Going Up In Flames
by cembria
Summary: AH/AU: Sookie is a nurse who is facing the biggest tragedy of her life when her Firefighter husband Eric is gravely injured in the line of duty. Watch as she reflects on their time together as Eric fights for his life. *has angst but still tons of humor*
1. Chapter 1

_**So here we go, this is my new multi-chapter All Human story. I will be posting once a week until it's all out there. I already have the whole story in the can and my BETA is diligently working to correct my mistakes and sloppiness. I would like to take a moment to thank said BETA **__**stephie8869 **__**she is forty different kinds of awesome. Also if you are looking for some cheap labor she may be willing to mail her kids to you. I have no need, seeing as my 6 year old cousin is attending to all of my current needs. **_

_**Until next time I present….**_

**Present day**

**S-POV**

"Sook, engine 5 is coming in with a trauma. Hike yo titties up and get ready fo yo man!" I had to laugh at my friend Lafayette; he runs dispatch for Bon Temps memorial, the only hospital between Monroe and Shreveport and might also be the only black drag queen that is out of the closet in the south, which reminds me, he has my eye shadow! I have been a nurse here 6 years; my first day was on my 22nd birthday. Engine 5 came in with a child who had smoke inhalation after a house fire happened over on Main Street. It wasn't the child that changed my life that day; it was the man that walked in who was carrying the child that did.

I "hiked my titties up" as previously instructed, I also smoothed out my long, very curly blonde hair while checking my make-up in the mirror and waddled over to the emergency doors. My growing stomach was making it harder for me to feel sexy when my husband comes in. I can't even get my scrub tops on anymore so I am just wearing one of his gray v-neck t-shirts that will most likely never be the same again after this, and some massive scrub bottoms that I can't wait to burn. I just can't, in good conscience, do the role play "nice to meet you" pretend flirting and then go make-out in a closet while I am 7 months pregnant with our child. I don't care that he is my husband and the Father of my spawn or that it's just a game and we're not really strangers, but I just can't role play being all preggers.

I stood next to my best friend Amelia who is also knocked up, via one of the guys from engine 5, waiting eagerly for them to show up. She was much taller than me and a polar opposite in looks. She has short brown hair and has always been very thin where I rarely see below a size 7, even when I'm not pregnant. I took advantage of this unusually moment of peace to remember that day 6 years ago.

**6 Years ago**

"Get the ICU prepped! We have engine 5 bringing in a child with smoke inhalation and a possible head wound. Be on your toes people!" Lafayette yelled as everyone started to scramble. Today is my first day on the job. I graduated from LSU two months ago and finally got this job last week, thanks in part to my friend Amelia who already worked here. Her father owns the hospital, so his love for her worked in my favor because I really needed a job but there weren't many opportunities in Bon Temps for a nurse, much less one who had no experience yet.

Amelia grabbed my arm as I stood nervous not sure what to do and dragged me to a supply closet. "Okay we know the general of what is coming so we need to make sure that the trauma bay will have everything at arm's reach that might be needed. People can die in the time it can take to run back here to get something, so even if you don't think you will need it grab it. We can always put stuff back." She was shoving things into my arms while I was taking mental stock of what it all was and where it was coming from. We rushed back to the triage room and set everything up.

Then she grabbed my hand and pulled me to the door and said. "Alright, we're going to wait here. All of the fire fighters are EMT's so they will make a spiel then hand the patient over to us, the doctor will examine, diagnose and treat as much as possible here and hopefully we won't need to Medivac anyone out. Do as you're told and keep your head down." She paused and patted me on the back with a huge smile before saying. "This is going to be so much fun, the action goes really quick so enjoy it, because after this we all sit around a table doing paperwork and that gets really lame really quick. Oh just so you know I sit next to Trey every time so this is a preemptive dib's." I looked at her with a confused face and said.

"Who is Tray?" She gave me a shy slightly horny smile before saying.

"Engine fives hottest Firefighter, I am considering letting him melt my panties regularly." She said with a shrug. I turned my attention back to her as we saw the fire engine and "Ambulance" drive up. (By ambulance I mean a fancy painted minivan with the two back rows removed. Welcome to the south.) When it came to a stop the back door slid open and two men popped out they were both good looking in a generic type of way. The first had shaggy dark blond hair with flex of silver and a face like a puppy and the second guy was tall, dark and built like a brick shit house. Then like the gates of heaven opening up, a blonde God climbed out behind them. He had to have been 6 and a half feet tall with neatly trimmed short blonde hair that was complemented by a 5 o'clock shadow that looks like he maintains. His eyes were a very dark blue. So dark in the natural light they almost looked black; he was carrying a limp little boy. My last thought before I put my head in the game was, '_Shit, I bet that is Tray! It's just like her to snap up the hottest piece of ass in the state! BITCH!' _

_ "_Male, 6 years old, he was trapped on the upper level, he was unconscious when located. It is believed that he was struck by debris while we tried to gain entry. No laceration but his breath sounds have been erratic and labored." The blonde God, who I hope is not Tray, rattled off as we got the child put on the bed and hooked up to oxygen. We spent the next hour and a half stabilizing the little boy, who will make it; he has a concussion but he will wake from it; he just needs rest.

Amelia told me that the fire house is attached to the hospital so to fight boredom the firefighters come and do their paperwork with the nurses; the Doctors are apparently too good for us though because they have their own lounge that we aren't allowed to go in. Amelia and I grabbed our charts heading to the lounge. She took a seat at the smallest table that would only fit 2 people; she winked at me as I took a seat on the couch and tucked my feet under me. I had grabbed a clip board and had no intentions of giving someone a hand-job under the table like she did so I didn't need to sit at a table.

I started writing my reports and people started to trickle in. Shaggy Puppy face introduced himself as "Sam the Fire Chief" and took his seat right next to the TV because he didn't want to watch any of Lafayette's "fuckin' soaps" today. I let out a little chuckle and got back to my work. I didn't notice that the room had almost filled up until I felt the other side of the couch sag under someone else's weight. I looked up and saw the blonde God who is most likely Tray smiling at me. I must have looked horrified because he said in his deep sexy baritone voice.

"Umm, I'm sorry is this seat taken?" I sighed and muttered.

"Dib's." he raised an eyebrow in the sexiest way and asked.

"Who had dib's? Were they hospital or firehouse, because if it was firehouse I'm not moving they can suck it." I laughed and he smiled at me again, I was about to make up some excuse to get up and leave, but Amelia ran up dragging 'Brick Shit House' behind her.

"Hey Sookie, have you met Tray? I see Eric has introduced himself." I let out a sigh of relief that Tray was not my Blonde God, but instead the brick shit house! Eric looked at Amelia annoyed and said.

"I was about to, but we were working out the logistics of possible dib's that may or may not have been placed on the seat I am sitting in." Amelia smiled at me and looked back at Eric; her gaze seemed to make him squirm. I will have to ask her about that later.

"This is Sookie's first day so she doesn't know how much weight dibs hold here yet. Sook who was it fire or med?" I looked at her confused and said.

"I don't remember. Does it really matter?" The whole room seemed to gasp at my question. I'm pretty sure I have just underestimated the power of dib's in this place. Amelia just shook her head and grabbed Trays hand leading him over to the hand-job table and said.

"Eric, fill her in… let's just hope that as the sole witness to these dib's that it was fire." And she walked away. I looked back to Eric that was now grinning like the cat that just caught the canary, he also now had his arm draped across the back of the couch and was playing with my pony tail, curling the long hair around his fingers occasionally brushing my shoulders. I was drowning in the pleasure of the sensation, but I tried to appear as put together as possible.

"So about the dib's…." I started; he just smiled wider and leaned over towards me because he needed to whisper, so as not to disturb the others with our chatter. He stopped running his fingers through my hair and now gripped my shoulder as he pulled me in his direction.

"Well here's the deal with dib's. Fire and med have to share a lot of stuff including this lounge so as a way to prevent fights we instituted dib's. Fire cannot override med's dibs on an item, person or seat and vice versa but you can debate dibs with your own kind except with people." I was a little confused so I asked.

"What do you mean except with people?" He leaned so close to my ear I could feel his breath on my neck and he started to twirl my hair again and his previously free hand was now resting on my thigh before he answered.

"Well, if I were to say I have dib's on you none of the other guys would make a pass at you out of respect for me and my wishes to pursue you." I lit up with a blush and he gave the side of my neck a tiny kiss before he pulled back and said.

"Beautiful." I lit up with another blush that I am sure it went all the way down to my toes and he chuckled and scooted closer to me so our legs were completely touching. We sat in silence for a while completing our work only occasionally exchanging heated looks. I was finishing up my last report when I heard Eric growl a little. I looked up and saw a massive man with a bald head and cloudy brown eyes, who kind of looked like a genie in this fire pants, staring at me expectantly.

"Hey Baby." He said. I rolled my eyes, what a turn off, this guy must be a major meat head. But before I could protest Eric growled out.

"Dib's man… Dib's" I looked at Eric who's face softened from enraged to sheepish when he looked from meat head back to me. Meat head also sounded annoyed and said.

"Is that true Baby are you dibbed by him?" I was about to confirm said dib's because I like Eric and wanted to be flirted with some more but again before I could nine firefighters all popped up and started yelling including Eric. So many things were being said I couldn't figure out who most of them were coming from.

"Come on Quinn, you know the rules."

"Fuck off asshole!"

"Are you two going to rumble?" that one concerned me.

"You dare defy the DIB'S?"

Then everything seemed to happen very quickly, the whole room started to chant _rumble, rumble, rumble! _I looked at Eric who was clenching his fists and following the rest of the guys outside. _What the fuck?_ I thought as I sat there stunned until Amelia grabbed my hand and said.

"Hurry up! They're going to rumble on the lawn in front of the firehouse. Eric has to do it to defend the dib's that Quinn just challenged. Don't judge him… this is how we do things here." I looked at her like she was crazy and yelled.

"Don't we have people to look after?" She laughed and said.

"Sookie, we have had 4 people come into the ER all day, I think were cool." I ran to keep up with Amelia. When we got outside Eric was taking off his shirt and I could see his toned, tanned torso. He really was a work of art. Long and lean but still well muscled without looking crazy. Quinn had also taken off his shirt but he looked crazy, his pecks may have been bigger than my tits and of a similar shape. Yuck! The two men started circling each other in a defensive stance and Sam walked up and said.

"Alright you know how this goes, no breaking bones and the first one to have a knee hit the ground loses." Sam clapped his hands as if to start the fight and they went after each other. The fight was quick and Quinn never did land a punch on Eric because Eric hit him twice before he was knocked on his ass. Eric raised his hands in the air triumphantly and turned to me smiling, but as he was making his way to me Quinn said.

"Whatever man, enjoy her! I bet she is just another bitch like your faggot sister!" My mouth dropped open, I was appalled. Eric's face contorted in rage as he tuned to run back and really beat the shit out of him, but six other firefighters were already on him before Eric could get a piece. They all parted when he got there and let Eric at him, after a few moments of watching Sam finally yelled in a very authoritative voice.

"Alright everyone stop it." And like that everything halted and separated. Then Sam continued. "Quinn you're suspended pending an investigation of your actions." Quinn looked outraged and Eric looked like he wanted to beat him some more. But like the idiot Quinn is he continued to talk.

"Fine then, fuck you all! I don't need this shitty job!" He whined, clearly getting no support from anyone. He stomped off, and Eric said something to Tray before he also walked off, I just stood there stunned. This has been one hell of a first day.

Amelia walked over and tried to talk to me but I was just stunned. I felt badly for Eric that someone would say that about his sister. I assume she is gay and this is something he has to deal with regularly but I'm angry that people are so closed minded. Even Amelia has dabbled in the art of the V. I mean really who cares, is it hurting you? Some people are just hateful. Finally Tray walked over and said.

"Umm Sookie, Eric said to tell you that he is really interested in using his rightfully won dib's but he just needed to go cool down and call his sister. He just kind of snapped because last year Pam almost got beaten to death by some homophobic rednecks that saw her kissing her girlfriend in her own bar. When Eric got the call she was already at the hospital and they didn't know if she was going to make it, the guys who did it to her only got a little probation and a slap on the wrist, no justice. He made Pam move in with him after that, he was afraid to leave her alone; when he was on call she slept in the fire house for months because he couldn't be away from her, so if you can't handle that he loves his sister than back out now man, because those two have been through hell together."

I stared dumbstruck, sometimes I love living in the south but things like this disgust me as for his loving and caring for his sister I said.

"My brother is a worthless piece of shit, I wish I had a brother who cared that much." Tray just smiled and said.

"Good, that's what I thought. I didn't take you for a b-otch." Amelia laughed and took his hand. We went to walk back in and I noticed our shift was almost over. Amelia and Tray parted ways while she and I went inside to do inventory and check on ER patients. There were only 2 and they were both fine.

I closed all of the day's files and briefed the next shift. I told Amelia I would see her tomorrow before heading out to my car. Imagine my surprise when I walked up to my car and an insanely tall beautiful woman was leaning on my car. I gave her a short wave and said.

"Hello there." She narrowed her eyes and said.

"Let me cut to the chase, because I have shit to do." She flicked invisible dust off of her pastel pink twinset and designer slacks. "My brother is interested in you and wants to take you on a formal date because he would like to keep you around for a while. I however don't want to see him waste his time; because if I don't like you I will be honest; I will make his life hell until he dumps you." I had to appreciate her honestly so I said.

"Well I like him too and at least you're honest." She smiled and said.

"Well aren't you sweet?" I narrowed my eyes at her and replied.

"Not especially." She relaxed her face, grabbed my hand and said.

"You'll do." She winked at me and yelled. "Eric, she's cool you may date/ fuck her now." I saw a very sheepish looking Eric skulk out from behind the corner of the building with his hands stuffed in his pockets and head tilted down avoiding my gaze. He finally got to me and shooed Pam away, she peeled with laughter and Eric rolled his eyes. Once she was out of ear shot he said.

"I am so sorry, she insisted and you don't really tell Pam 'no'." I chuckled and I said.

"I got that feeling, but don't worry its fine. She is just looking out for you. You will have to go through the third degree from Amelia if you stick around me." He took a step back and held his hands up looking terrified and said.

"Wow sorry, that's a deal breaker. She scares the shit out of me." I was rolling with laughter and he smiled and took a step forward and said.

"No really, one time Alcide took her good pen and lost it so she put a curse onto the firehouse… we had no running water for a week, I think she may be a witch." This time we both laughed and nodded. I twined my fingers with his, and said.

"She dabbled in the dark arts in high school, but don't worry I won't let her turn you into a cat or anything." His face got serious again as he leaned into me, pressing me against my shitty car and said.

"Can I take you to dinner?" I shivered at his proximity and breathed.

"Y…yes" He smiled while his mouth was only inches from mine.

"How is tomorrow?" I nodded as I grabbed his head threading my fingers into his hair pulling him to my face. We proceeded to make out like horny teenagers until Tray came out and cleared his throat. By this point my bra was undone, I was laying on my hood with him pressed over me and his hands were up my shirt… and somewhere along the line his shirt had been removed completely. Eric didn't move anything accept his head and gruffly said.

"What? What could you possibly need?" Tray kicked some gravel, and said.

"Umm, you guys have been out here for 3 hours and Sam said to come peel you off of her so we can run drills." I had no idea we had been making out for so long! It only seemed like a few minutes. He groaned into my neck and whispered.

"I have to go…" I nodded and said.

"It's okay, I will see you tomorrow." He smiled and said.

"Yes, yes you will. Sweet dreams Nurse Stackhouse." He gave me one last quick kiss before standing up. I saw him bend over to pick something up. When I saw what it was I blushed like I had never blushed before. He had my torn panties which he had literally ripped off of me in a fit of lust. He just winked and said.

"Souvenir." He walked back to the firehouse with a chuckling Tray, I laid on my hood for a few more moments before I was ready to drive. I got in my car and took a long lingering look at the firehouse before I drove home and dreamed about my Blonde God all night.

_**Please review… I always appreciate it and it generally makes my day.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Present Day**

Dr. Compton and Lafayette ran up to Amelia and I while we were waiting with the others. Dr. Compton whispers something to Amelia and she looks horrified.

Lafayette said to me. "Listen baby, you can't be on this case. Come to the lounge with me and I will explain it."

I was irritated to say the least. I am a damn fine nurse and I am not going to have another 'you can't do it because your pregnant' talk with him. "Shut it Laffy, I am fine." He shook his head with vigor and was going to start again but the ambulance drove up so I looked at him and said, "Save it for later, I'm busy."

I ran up to the ambulance and saw the person they were bringing out on the gurney. I was praying to God that I was hallucinating. "Eric?" I ask the lifeless looking figure who resembles my husband. I let out a wail before collapsing but Tray caught me and carried my screaming body away from the scene.

Amelia says. "Tray take care of her. Sookie we're not going to let anything happen to him." I can't register any feeling of relief that she may be trying to send to me, as screaming and sobbing while shaking uncontrollably is all I am capable of anymore. I can barely have lunch without him, how could I live without him if he dies?

**6 years ago the first date**

I was nervous! He told me to dress casual and to pack a swim suit. I was glad he chose something laid back and I was more than excited at the prospect of somewhere to wear my 'itty bitty, tinny weenie, yellow polka dot bikini'. I bought it just so I could sing the song while I wore it and Eric seemed like the type of guy who would appreciate it.

I paced in front of my apartment door for thirty minutes completely riled up with anticipation. Eric had texted me last night saying that his shift was over at ten am and that he would like to pick me up at noon. I, of course, was so excited that I was ready by nine am pacing around the house and cleaning until there was nothing left for me to do. Then I took to just pacing some more in front of the door, trying to will time to move faster. Finally, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs that lead to my apartment. I took in a huge gasp of air and waited to see if the person coming up the stairs was Eric or some black hearted person of my neighbors. Luckily a few moments later I heard shuffling in front of my unit so I waited anxiously for him to knock on the door. It seemed like it was taking hours for him to just knock. When he finally did I had to hold myself back from whipping the door open before his hand was down, because honestly I did not want to seem crazy or too overly eager. After reigning in my breathing and counting to ten (by Mississippi's) I opened the door with a smile, but was nearly floored by what I saw.

Eric was standing there in a tight, black razor back wife beater that clung to his muscles in the most delicious ways. His dark wash jeans looked like they were made just for him. Usually with men as tall as him their pants always look just off, a little too short, or they are too loose to compensate for the need for extra length. But not Eric's, oh no! They were slung low on his hips in the most tantalizing fashion, not in a silly way and they were tight on his thighs and ass without me wondering if he would have issues producing children some day. On his feet were the sexiest pair of black leather… well the only way to describe them is ass kicking boots. He looked like the type of guy Gran had always warned me about, but I found myself wondering why I had ever listened to her.

He was also holding a pen with a ribbon around it, which was slightly confusing to me. He was smiling at me a patiently waiting for me to finish oggling him. I quickly invited him in and offered him a drink which he politely declined.

He extended the pen to me and said, "This is for you. I was going to go with flowers but that seemed impractical since they will be dead in a week. But this pen claims that it will never falter and can ever write underwater. I know how scarce pens are in the hospital because they seem to fall into some pen eating vortex at the nurses' station."

I laughed and looked at the pink metallic pen and smiled at him before replying, "Thank you, this may be the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. Don't worry because I will never share it. Amelia says sharing your pen is the greatest mistake you can ever make."

He laughed and pushed some hair out of my face before asking, "You wouldn't even share with me?" He leaned over and kissed the spot on my neck where he had just moved my hair from.

I giggled like a school girl and said. "Maybe, just with you." He smiled again before giving me a soft quick kiss on the lips.

Whispering Into my ear, "Good." I almost melted right then and their but he grabbed my hand and asked, "Are you ready to go?" I nodded and grabbed my purse along with the bag holding my swimming stuff. He gently took my bright pink flowered swim bag and said., "I got it."

I looked at him like he was crazy and said, "Its hot pink with little flowers you don't have to carry it."

He just shook his head and smiled before he saying, "I am very secure in my masculinity. I think I will be fine carrying a bag for the woman who has captured my attention, be it pink with flowers or anything else." He grabbed my hand and led me out while I blushed furiously again. He just chuckled and led me to his car, which was a very nice restored bronco. I have to say the car looked like it fit him. If I were a car, I would be a pink Mini Cooper but that is my secret. He opened my door and helped me in. I had dated a few guys but no one has ever been so courteous and gentlemanly before. Gran was all wrong, the boys who look like hell on wheels are the ones I should have been chasing the whole time, because nice guys in sweater vests have only brought me irritation and heart ache.

We were driving for a while and he seemed to have other supplies covered by a fleece blanket that had flames printed on it (ha-ha he's a firefighter right?) and I was getting squirrelly so I asked. "Hey, where are we headed?"

He smiled a mischievous smile and replied. "A different geographical location from where we started."

I rolled my eyes before shooting him a look. "Are you going to tell me where in more detail?"

He chuckled before saying, "No, but if you guess details you may be able to deduce it for yourself."

I huffed and asked. "Fine, is there water?"

"Yes."

"Is there sand?"

"Yes, but not the same as from the beach."

Okay, now I know were not headed to the beach. "Is it natural or manmade?"

"Natural."

"Are we spending the whole day?"

"And part of the night."

I head snapped to him and asked. "What in the hell makes you think I am going to want to spend that much time with you?"

Again he laughed and said. "Because I drove and you have no choice."

I had to laugh at that while nodding my head, I replied, "Touché." He just kept smiling and nodding his head. He has the most beautiful smile.

"Does it have anything to do with the 4th of July?"

"Yes."

"Will there be lots of people there or just us?"

He thought for a moment then said, "It will be just us until 5 then others will join us." I nodded and saw that we were pulling down a road that had houses that were really spaced out.

"Are we going to someone's house?

"Yes."

"Whose?" He just sat silently and looked out the windshield.

"Okay, do you know the person well?"

He laughed hard and said. "We have been rather well acquainted for the last 26 years." I scrunched my face as we pulled onto a property taking a neatly graveled road.

"Are they a boy or a girl?"

"Man." He said

I gasped being hit with the sudden realization. "Is this your house?"

He laughed as he put the car in park and walked around to open my door for me extending his hand to help me out and replied. "Why, yes it is." I let him help me out and I took in his home. It was really lovely. It had two stories, painted white, and had red shutters and trim. It also had a wrap around porch, with red lounge furniture, and an old distressed looking porch swing on it. The lawn was well maintained. There were some nice flower bushes scattered around, also a rock garden that reminded me of the rolling hills of Ireland; they were covered in some sort of lush green fern. When he can up behind me to lead me in he had his arms full of shopping bags. I was so entranced by the beauty of the house that he actually had to nudge me a little to get me to move.

As we walked into the house and I saw the lovely masculine décor done in hard woods and deep jewel tones I asked. "Do you live here alone?"

He set down the bags and came back to lead me into the kitchen with him, which was beautiful and massive. "No Pam lives in the guest house, but she eats my food."

I took in the beautiful dark wood floors and massive, plush furniture before I asked. "You live here and you're a firefighter?" I instantly slapped my hand over my mouth. Gran would have a stroke if she had heard me just ask someone a barely know about their personal finances. Eric apparently was not offended he chuckled a little before answering.

"Yes, my only source of a pay check is from the firehouse, but my parents were very well off and I don't need to work so much as I like to work. Honestly what little boy doesn't spend his childhood dreaming of becoming a firefighter? Pam owns a shop in Shreveport and is involved in an unhealthy love affair with designer clothes so she lives in the guest house permanently now because it means she can buy more clothes." I laughed at his sister's silliness and took a good look at him. I never would have pegged him for a rich kid, he is so down to earth, kind and sweet, not to mention he has manners lost on even some of the more well breed southern families and I told him as much.

"I never would have pegged you as someone who fell off the money tree." He laughed hard and handed me a coke and lead me into the back yard before he replied.

"Well our Mom thought it was best to teach us the value of money. Pam and I had no idea our parents were even comfortable, let alone loaded, until our Mom passed away two years ago. Every time we would ask for something she would say 'Go get a job! We don't have money for that crap; you should learn to save your allowance.' After our Dad died when we were teenagers our Mom went back to work even though she had no need." I nodded and smiled his Mom sounded like a great lady and I bet I would have liked her.

I look at him and say, "I'm sorry for your loss, your Mom sounds amazing."

He smiled and got a far off look in his eyes like he was watching a reel of every memory he has of his Mother before he said, "Yeah she was awesome, you would have liked her. What about your parents?" He asked obviously trying to steer the conversation into a less morbid direction but was completely unaware of the fact that he failed miserably.

"Umm, they are both dead. I was just a kid so I don't even remember them, but I have a Gran! She raised me and my brother and still lives in Bon Temps. I go have lunch with her on Wednesdays."

He grabbed my hand before saying, "I'm sorry you don't remember them, but if you came from them they must have been good people." I squeezed his hand and rested my head on his arm and finally took a moment to take in his lovely backyard.

It was lush and expansive much like the front yard, but the best part was the large swimming hole sitting in the middle with 3 rope swings hanging on the largest of the surrounding trees. He also had a hot tub and a ridiculously large grill area that looked more like an outdoor kitchen. Gran would love that, because she is always saying how hot the house gets after she cooks and just wishes sometimes that she could move the kitchen outside.

Eric tugged on my hand and asked, "Do you want to put on you suit? We can do some swimming before people get here and start to think it is hilarious to try to drown me."

I looked at him stunned and asked, "What?"

He laughed and lead me back inside as he spoke. "Yeah, every year the guys take it as a personal challenge to try and dunk me because it has never been done before. It is times like that where being 6'5" works to my advantage. Not only does the deepest part barely cover my head if I am flat footed but I also have the long limbs to keep people at bay." He flailed his arms in a ridiculous way and we laughed. He grabbed my bag off of the counter leading me upstairs into what, at first, I thought was going to be a guest room but turned out to be the master. I froze at the door not really sure how to proceed. He just rolled his eyes and shaking his head and pulled me in after him setting my bag onto the bed.

"Stop freaking out, people are going to be in the guest room either doing lude or lascivious acts or D-runk and I would rather not risk the integrity of your belongings, by either an accidental humping or vomit. I keep my door locked when I have people over."

I let out the breath that I had been holding, not that I am not interested in him, but I am a lady and do not do bedroom activities on the first date. Last night was a fluke and really we just made out in a really hot and heavy way. I still have to be able to look my Gran in the eye the day after tomorrow. "Oh okay."

He smiled and rubbed his hand on my arm and then pointed out the bathroom and said. "I'm just going to change in the closet. Take your time, I will be downstairs showing the caterers where to set up." I must have given him a look because he said. "I have things like this catered because I want to be able to also enjoy it instead of stressing about whether or not the food is right or if we are running low on ice and drinks." I nodded and agreed I know the feeling. When Gran and I do Descendants of the Glorious Dead events, we stress from dawn til dusk and I don't think I have ever once tasted the food or seen the speaker for any of the events we host. Really if you have the money it is very smart.

I went into his bathroom to change and realized that his shower was almost the size of my bedroom with eight shower heads and his tub was big enough to fit four or five people. It took me a minute to figure out how to turn on his sink because it was one of those fancy ones that is supposed to look like a water fall coming from the wall. It was beautiful but to the point where I let it run for way to long and I was just wasting water. _'I wonder if he does that too or if he is used to it?'_ I was finally ready to go downstairs. I was wearing my yellow flip flops to match my bikini. I was carrying my sun tan lotion along with a big pink beach towel and I came down the stairs.

I saw Eric standing with his back to me directing some people who were moving about his kitchen. He was wearing nothing but Black swim trunks with red stripes down the sides and black flip flops. His well tanned muscled back was flexing and drawing me in like a moth to a flame. His body really is a work of art. He finally turned around when I was just a few feet away from him and I watched as his eyes raked over my form like I was a steak and he was a starving man. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes were wide. When he finally was able to speak he said. "It was an itty bitty, tinny weenie, yellow polka dot bikini."

I laughed and said, "That is exactly why I bought it!"

He laughed before saying, "You would."

We walked back outside. I laid my stuff on a lounge chair and started applying my lotion. Eric had his own bottle but looked at it like he hated it and said. "Yours smells better." I laughed and passed him my bottle. He smiled and said, "Thanks, now I will smell like a pin᷈a colada instead of a chemical refinery."

I continued to laugh and shake my head before I asked, "Why did you buy it?"

He looked exasperatedly at the bottle and started rubbing the lotion on his arms before he replying, "I didn't know it would smell like Windex when I bought it."

I snapped my head up to his and asked. "You didn't smell it first?"

He threw his hands up then asked me, "Was I supposed to?"

I laughed again and said, "You were if you didn't want to buy one that smelled like Windex!" We both laughed and continued our sun tan lotion application.

A few moments later Eric stood in front of me pouting and said, "Do my back please." I turned him around and squeezed some lotion into my hand. I started rubbing the lotion on his back and he very dramatically started to purr and slump over.

I just laughed and in between giggles I stated, "You sir are such a nerd." I finished with him and he grabbed the bottle from me and lifted me under my arms to stand me on the chair I yelled. "Hey!"

He just laughed and said, "How was I supposed to do your back when you are so low to the ground?"

I snorted at him and said, "I am 5'3"!"

He just laughed while saying, "Yes but still 14 inches shorter than me."

I turned my head to him with my mouth hanging open stammering, "That is a big ass height difference when you say it like that."

He just shrugged and finished up before stating, "Yeah but I'm cool with it. Being a giant helps me get all the stuck kitties out of the trees without a ladder." I was doubled over with laughter, and he ran towards the swimming hole with a huge smile on his face that made him look like a little boy. He grabbed onto one of the ropes mid sprint and swung over the water doing a back flip before he landed in the water.

I walked over to the edge of the water and waited for him to come up, when he did I told him, "Show off!"

He shook his head and came towards me saying, "No, that's not the case; I am just really skilled." He rushed up and grabbed me flinging us both into the water. I was screaming and playfully trying to fight my way away from him. Every once in a while he would let me get away before stalking me in the water like I was his prey before catching me again, after he gave me a little chase. We were laughing and playing when I noticed the sun start to get low in the sky. I saw Trey and Amelia walking out towards us. Trey was wearing swim trunks that resembled a pair of pants that Zack Morris from saved by the bell would have favored and Amelia was wearing a surprisingly modest retro looking one piece suit.

"Hey ya'll" She hollered from the row of chairs where Eric and I had set our things. They were laying out their towels and we got out greeting them.

"Hey Meel's. How are you guys? Did you have a good day?"

She came over giving Eric a little side hug and giving me a larger full hug before saying, "It was good; Tray and I went to the mall. Get this, he didn't whine once!" I laughed and Eric made a squeaked snort turning his head to try to hide his expression.

Tray looked less than amused before coming over to give me a half hug. He said, "I'm glad you're proud Amelia. How are you doing Sook? Are you ready for the fourth tomorrow? It is our busiest and craziest day of the year. Last year a guy accidently set a gator on fire with a roman candle." I just stared at him with my mouth open and he continued. "This is why Eric has the annual third of July party, because were too busy on the fourth." I just nod and try to shove my worry about having my second day of work be on the busiest day of the year for now.

Eric toweled off while saying, "You guys want a drink? The food will be ready in a few." Tray nodded with Amelia following. People started to trickle in. Before I knew it, over the next hour, the yard filled and we were all playing like a hoard of children, yelling, screaming, and tackling each other.

Like Eric had warned me people were trying to dunk him, however they were all being blisteringly ineffective. I decided to try my hand at it, but to approach the task from a different angle. I made my way back into the water and swam up to him. Sam, Dr. Compton who insisted I call him Bill outside of the hospital and Clancy all scooted away to pick different targets when I approached. He wrapped his arms around me pulling me to him. I started giving him silly short soft kisses while he was treading water. I flipped on my back and started to float and Eric followed my lead, walking right into my trap. I held his hand as we floated in the dark surrounded by the sounds of laughter, splashing and screaming. After I lulled him into a false sense of security I shot up and shoved down on his shoulders. Before he had time to react, I had dunked him under the water. I was laughing and waving my arms victoriously.

When he came back up he began wiping the water from his eyes. He asked, "Did you just fricking dunk me?"

I nodded while looking smug and then said, "Yes, yes I did."

He was looking at me stunned when Sam yelled, "Hey guys! Sookie just dunked Eric! He was bested by a girl!" I was laughing uncontrollably by this point and Eric just pulled me close to him again continuing to hug on me while he walked us both out of the water with my feet dangling at his knees because he was holding me up to his eye level. He walked us over to a lounge chair and laid us down on it with me lying on top of him.

Once we were settled he said, "You're a jerk."

I laughed lightly on his chest, closing my eyes, resting my arms on his sides and softly told him, "I know."

I felt him smile into my hair as he pressed a kiss on my head. "It's okay I like it."

We lay like that for a while before we got up to get us some food. We talked and laughed with everyone for a while more before we went back into the pond a little later, but then got out as people started to get drunker and lazier. People started to either head up to a guest room or home. At around midnight the catering company started cleaning up. I was laying my head on Eric's shoulder with my eyes closed, because I was getting tired.

He leaned down to me and asked, "Do you want me to drive you home now?" I was really tired. When I get tired, I get cranky so my only response was a growl and whine. He just chuckled and picked me up carrying me upstairs. I felt him lay me on a bed and tuck me in, then I heard him fiddle with an alarm clock but I was too tired to care. I think I also felt him place a kiss on my forehead. I was asleep almost instantly. The next thing I knew, I woke for a few seconds when I felt someone slide into the bed next to me but I fell right back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

**My friend had a Charlie Sheen themed birthday party last night and I'm really hung over. I hope you enjoy this. Please review; it is the only thing that will cure my headache and nausea. **

**Present Day**

I was lying on the couch, in a catatonic state, clutching my stomach, while Tray kneeled next to me drying the tears that were falling silently now. Sam walked in looking worse for wear, covered in ash and soot. He talked with Tray in low whispers for a second and then took the tissues from him, kneeling in the spot that Tray had previously occupied.

He moved my hair a little before saying, "How are you? How is the baby?" I stayed silent, I had nothing to say. "Eric was on a roof trying to cut into the attic. We thought it was stable but the fire had spread further than we had originally thought. He fell through, then went through the floor in the attic and second floor before he landed on the ground level. He only has a small burn on his arm that will heal and we got to him quick. But he has a lot of broken bones and he is in surgery right now. They told me he woke up right before they put him under and was asking for you. They think he is going to be okay. Dr. Ludwig is waiting outside; they want to take you upstairs to check out you and the baby. Dr. Compton pulled some strings, getting a second bed put into an ICU room so you can stay with him."

I let out another small sob and nodded allowing him to pick me up and carry me out to Dr. Ludwig who was waiting in the hall with a wheel chair. I just rubbed my stomach trying to focus my breathing and remember happier times.

**5 years ago**

"How the hell did my apartment burn down, when my boyfriend is a firefighter?" I yelled, as I stood outside of my now charred apartment with my Gran hugging me, trying to soothe me by rubbing my back. Eric and Alcide walked out of the unit next to mine, which was where the fire originated and came over to me. Gran released me and I fell into Eric waiting arms. He took off his helmet and gloves before handing them to Alcide who started to speak.

"I'm real sorry Sook, they guy next door was using a bucket next to his curtains as an ashtray. We think he flicked one in when he left for work today. The damage is pretty bad, but Eric thinks he can get in there after the inspector comes and we will be able to salvage some stuff."

I unbuttoned his jacket so I could lay my face on his t-shirt instead of his rough jacket and asked, "What stuff?"

He smiled down sadly at me and said, "Your closet was relatively untouched; it is mostly just smoke damage in there."

I looked up at him with sad eyes and asked, "What about my scrapbooks and scrapbooking stuff?"

He just held me closer as I started to cry and he said, "Lover, I am so sorry." I cried harder. I just wanted a shower and to lie down but I can't because my HOUSE BURNED DOWN!

Gran came up and rubbed my back while saying, "Oh child it is not all bad. I have copies of most of the pictures and 2 of your scrap books are at my house."

Eric perked up and said, "That's right, I almost forgot you have a whole stack of your scrapbooks at my house also; see it could have been worse." I nodded and decided to look at it as glass half full, it may be half full of shit but at least it is half full.

Gran smiled as I peeled myself away from Eric and said, "Honey, you are covered in blood you need a change and a shower."

I let out a few more tears and whispered, "I know."

Eric was rubbing up and down my arms. He took a few deep breaths before saying. "Sookie, I was going to ask you to move in with me this weekend because I knew your lease was about to end. I would really like it. I'm not just saying this because of the fire. You can even ask Gran I ran it past her two weeks ago."

I looked at Gran. She had a huge smile on her face and she said, "Yes it's true. He came and asked if it was okay with me. Because he didn't want to do anything to possibly strain our relationship, and wanted to know if you living with him would bother me. I, of course, am not an idiot. I know that you're not a virgin, I mean look at him!"

I gasped and screamed, "Gran!" I looked at Eric who was blushing and was taking an unusual interest in his boots.

"Child, hush! If I were fifty years younger I would be giving you a run for your money with this one." She laughed pointing at Eric, slapping his ass as she walked over to her car. Eric looked shocked and stunned as we both looked at her. She shouted from her car before she got in. "Eric, take care of your woman! Thanks for taking her off my hands; I will see you two on Wednesday!" My mouth was hanging wide open and Eric absently waved goodbye to her as she pulled out.

He just shook his head and laughed before saying, "Your Gran is a frigging spit fire. Now I know where you get it." I laughed and walked over to the fire engine with Eric; I guess I would ride back with them and wait at the fire house until Eric's shift was over. Thank God this happened on the last day of his shift.

"Did you know that she and Pam go club hopping once a month?"

He nodded while saying, "Pam was telling me the other day that she wants me to marry you because she wants Gran to be her Gran also." I laughed nervously as he squeezed me. I'm not going to lie and say that the thought of marrying Eric hadn't crossed my mind any less than a thousand times in the last few months. But then I start to internally freak out. Is this is subtle way of telling me that he doesn't want to marry me or is this him dropping a hint that it might be coming soon? But knowing Eric he could just be relaying something and I am thinking way too hard about this.

I continued to stew as Eric lifted me into the cab and climbed in behind me placing me on his lap. Even though I was having a mini freak out I couldn't help laying my head on his chest and letting him rub my back while he rested his chin on my head. We were back all too soon. I let Eric know that I was going to just go finish my shift and change my scrubs. He kissed me before telling me he was off at eight and we can drive to _our home _together. I agreed and kissed him one more time before I walked back to the hospital going straight to the locker room to change my scrubs and take a quick shower.

When I finished I put on my black scrub pants and my mostly black scrub shirt with embroidered flames around the hem because I know this set is Eric's favorite. I'm actually pretty sure he is a little bit of a pyro because he has fire pits all over his property and let me tell you if it has flames on it he will love it.

I ended my shift with little incident, except for some jumping and squealing from Amelia when I told her I was moving in with Eric. She brought it down a few notches when I reminded her that my home burned down along with almost all of my earthly possessions going up in flames because of my asshole neighbor. She was solemn to my face for the next four hours. But on more than one occasion I saw her bursting with glee as she spread the gossip of my new living arrangement with the rest of the hospital whether they wanted to hear it or not.

I finished up my duties before going to the locker room to get my purse and walking over to the fire house where they were making dinner. I walked passed everyone and went right up the stairs to lie down on Eric's bed. The whole day was really starting to catch up to me now. I didn't see Eric on my way in but I assume he will know I'm her in the next six seconds with the way news travels in this place.

I rested for a few minutes before Tray came up and said, "Hey Sook, sorry to hear about your apartment burning down. Kind of ironic you know with Eric being a firefighter and all huh?" I laughed and shoved his shoulder. It felt good to laugh. He shoved me a little and asked, "You wanna come down for dinner? We're having chicken pot pie; Eric thought it might cheer you up." I smiled at Eric talking the whole station into having my favorite for dinner just to cheer me up. How do you say no to that? Who would want to?

"Yeah I'm coming. Where is Eric?" I asked.

Tray shrugged while saying, "I don't know. Sam probably gave him something to do. He should be back soon." I nodded and followed him down the stairs and took a seat at the table. Everyone came by to say how sorry they were and how they thought my day would be looking up soon. I assumed they were talking about the pot pie because I love pot pie, but I was so wrong. They brought out everything and set it on the table but everyone stood at once and stepped away from the table. I was confused to say the least. Then Eric slid down the fire pole in a tux and walked right up to me, going down on one knee.

The first thing he did was run a finger along the edge of my scrubs and say, "Lover, these are my favorites, but we will approach that later because I have something to ask you." I can see the ring box in his left hand and I know I am grinning like a fool, but I don't care. "I know you have had a crappy day, but I have had this planned for weeks and you know how crabby I get when I have to alter plans that I already considered firm."

I nod and smile letting a few happy tears and giggles out, because it's true he scowled for hours once because a movie was sold out and we had to see something else. "When I went to talk to your Gran about you moving in with me I also asked her if I could marry you. She told me that she was going to consider me fair game if I didn't ask you soon." We both smile because we know she isn't kidding, she already tries to hit on him regularly and that is her holding back.

"So, Miss Sookie Stackhouse will you do me the honor of being my wife and becoming Mrs. Sookie Northman?" He opened the box and inside was my Gran's wedding ring. I know I mentioned it to him once a long time ago that when I get married I wanted to have her ring because she and my grandfather loved each other with a whole heart. Even fifteen years after he died she still seems to love him more than anything. I was so over whelmed that all I could do was squeak and hold out my hand. He took the ring out and held it at the tip of my left ring finger and said, "Is that a yes? You can't have the ring until I hear it."

I heard chuckles from all around the room and I was nodding but speech was getting away from me. Finally I let out an insanely high pitched, "YES!" Eric laughed and slipped the ring on my finger.

He pulled me down to him into a searing kiss before standing us both up. Sitting me on his lap he said, "Let's eat, my fiancé is hungry!" The whole room erupted into cheers, hoots and hollers. And I sat on my _fiancés _lap and let him feed me my dinner because he kept slapping my hands away and saying "Stop it! Just let me have my fun." How was I to deny him anything after that awesome proposal? Later we went home to _our_ house and went to sleep in _our _bed.

**Please heal me with your reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Present day**

"Mrs. Northman you need to calm down, your blood pressure is very high. If you can't calm down we are going to have to sedate you to protect your baby."

I hissed at the little doctor who somewhat resembled a troll and said, "You listen here Ludwig! You try to calm down when your husband is in surgery after he fell through a house!" Amelia tried to touch me just I jerked back and yelled, "Don't touch me! Go down to the O.R. and get me another update." She looked shaken but silently nodded and left to do as she was told. Alcide was here also, the guys from the firehouse felt some need to have one of them with me at all times, when really I wanted Eric and no one else.

He also tried to console me. "Sookie, you are going to go into preterm labor if you don't calm down and Eric will be pissed if he misses the birth or something happens to you or the baby."

I was shaking with emotion, hormones, and everything in between. I couldn't stop myself from screaming while flailing my arms at anyone in reach. "STOP TELLING ME WHAT TO DO! NO ONE BUT ERIC GETS TO BOSS ME! THIS BABY WILL STAY IN UNTIL I SAY SO! IM GOING TO…." Then it all went black, those bastards sedated me!

**4 years earlier**

"Going to the chapel, and we're gonna get married!" Amelia, Pam and Gran sang while Pam was curling my hair.

Gran handed me a little box while saying, "You know he still has an hour to dump you for me." We all cracked up laughing.

Pam said, "Oh Adele you know I have first pick on you. I will take Eric out back and fight him for you. I kicked his ass when we were kids and I will do it again if I have to." I laughed and shook my head but she quickly grabbed my neck to hold me still. I would not be surprised if Pam could kick Eric's ass, seriously I am glad she likes me because she scares the shit out of me sometimes. "There you are all done; you look like an angel. My brother will be rendered speechless." Pam said as she sprayed my hair with completely unnecessary amounts of hair spray.

I stood up and went to look at my dress that was hanging in the corner. It is beautiful. It's a white flowing dress with a sweetheart top that is covered in crystals. My train is custom and has very realistic flames at the bottom. That is a little touch that Eric does not know about yet, but I am sure he will be elated. Gran helped me slip it on and Amelia used the sticky lint roller all over me while Pam reenacted the old obsession perfume commercial and dabbed some on herself. I was ready. I looked gorgeous. I know most people have wedding jitters but this feels right, this feels perfect.

We saddled up, Pam and Amelia fought over who gets to hold my train. Gran ended up ending the argument by smacking both of them and taking it herself. I laughed a little at that and filed it away to tell Eric later. We walked in to the living room and stood at the French doors that were draped in white silk today; waiting to hear the music que up. When we heard the music start Gran handed out the bouquets and paired Pam with Alcide and Amelia with Tray. Getting them ready to go down the aisle before she gave me a quick kiss and went to take her seat. I took a deep breath as Tray opened the doors. I am ready for this.

Tray and Amelia went first. Her bridesmaid dress was the same top as Pam's accept her skirt was flouncy and big and Pam's was tight and ultra short. They both agreed on fire engine red after a massive blowout over yellow. Both Tray and Alcide were wearing solid black suits with black shirts and ties.

Pam practically yanked Alcide down the aisle mumbling about him dragging ass. Again I had no choice but to laugh. When I peeked out I saw Eric laughing also. I took that as my cue to make my way down the aisle. I locked eyes with Eric and was completely lost. I couldn't tell you what anyone else looked like at that moment if someone had a gun to my head.

When I finally made it to him I saw that his black tie had flames at the bottom and I laughed a little turning my back so he could get a good look at my train. He laughed and twined his fingers with mine. We turned to Sam who is apparently not just the fire chief but also an ordained minister.

"Friends we are gathered here today to celebrate the binding of love between Sookie and Eric. If anyone has objections speak now or forever hold your peace." Both Eric and I shot our head around in unison to shoot the crowd a look. I guess we did it in a manner that was so in sync that a loud peel of laughter floated up from our guests. We turned back to Sam who continued with a much larger smile this time.

"All of us thought Eric was going to die a spinster on his couch with his hoard of cats, but then he met you Sookie and you changed it all. The whole fire house happily gives you this man's hand in marriage." Eric rolled his eyes but Sam continued. "And who gives this woman away?"

Gran stood and said, "I do, I recently found out that I was trying to make Sookie date the wrong guys. Because the ones who look sweet were always the worst, but Eric looks like sex on a stick and he treats her like a Goddess."

I shoot around to look at her and whisper yell, "Gran!" She held her hands up in mock surrender before chuckling and sitting back down.

We turned back to Sam considerably more embarrassed than before and he started again. "I know you two wanted to do your own vows so have at it, you go first Eric."

Eric's warm cerulean blue eyes caught mine and held my gaze to him like a tractor beam and he said. "Sookie, the first time I saw you I knew you were different. You are fun and easy to talk too. You have a zest for life I had never seen before. You are beautiful, kind, sweet and loyal. I would like to put my dib's on you for the rest of our lives." There was a collective "awe" from the crowd and I was seriously wondering how I go so lucky as to have this man in my life.

"Alright Sook, you go now." Sam said while I was wiping tears trying not to mess up my make-up.

Finally I got myself under control and I started. "Eric, the first time I saw you I was sure you were Tray because Amelia had warned me off the hottest firefighter. Because she had dibs and when you sat next to me I was so pissed at her. Then I found out that you weren't Tray and I may have done a happy dance." He chuckled and I continued. "You are the kindest, sweetest man I have ever met. We have been together for so long and you still hold my doors and you won't let me carry in the groceries. I love you so much, words will never be enough. I want to put my dibs on you also." I smiled yet again having to wipe tears from my eyes with the upmost care so as to not ruin Pam's master piece. Eric's face looked like he had just won the lottery, but I have to admit I must have looked much the same way.

"Alright guys, lets get to the rings, I do's, kiss and then we can all go to the party." Eric and I laughed at Sam who brought us out of our revelry and back down to earth. Pam handed me Eric's ring and Tray handed him mine. Sam told Eric the words to repeat as he slipped the ring on my finger.

"I, Eric Northman, take you, Sookie Stackhouse, to be my lawfully wedded wife from now until forever, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, I am forever yours." Sam looked back to me and asked.

"Do you Sookie, take Eric to be your husband?"

I smiled so wide I was afraid my face might seize up and I would never frown again. "I do!" I squealed.

"Okay repeated after me…" I repeated the words.

"I, Sookie Stackhouse, take you, Eric Northman, to be my lawfully wedded husband from now until forever, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, I am forever yours."

Eric looked like he was starting to get a little teary but quickly blinked them back when Sam asked. "Do you Eric take Sookie to be your wife?"

Eric looked at me with a mischievous smile and said, "Hell yes!"

Sam clapped his hands and said. "Alrighty, then. By the power vested in me, by the State of Louisiana I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride!" Eric grabbed me dipping me so low that I was almost flush with the ground. He laid the mother of all kisses on me. He slowly brought us back up and I could hear the people clapping and cheering. Eric scooped me up like Rhett Butler, carrying me down the aisle while I was laughing like a loon. I don't think it can get better than this.

We got to the end of the aisle and back into the house before he let my legs hand down but held me up by my waist so we were eye level and said. "I love you so much; someone in heaven must like me if they were willing to part with an Angel."

I snorted at that and smacked his arm before I said. "You think crappy lines like that are going to work on me Northman?"

His face got serious and he looked me in the eye saying, "Yes, I do. You already signed the papers. You have no choice but fall victim to my crappy lines for the rest of your life." We both laughed and he started to swing me from side to side. We were kissing and laughing when Pam came in.

She interrupted us with a completely fake throat clearing. "Ahem, you two are all set up for the reception and Sookie needs to change into her other dress." Eric looked at me then back to Pam like he was trying to figure out if he was really willing to let me go even if it was just for a moment. Based on his response I figure he decided he didn't want to let me go.

"I can help her out of her dress." Eric said with a wink, but Pam grabbed my arms, pulling me away from him and when she finally freed me Eric looked like a little boy whose little sister just snatched his new action figure.

Pam rolled her eyes and said, "Eric, I do not doubt your abilities to get Sookie out of her clothing. I do however doubt your ability to redress her, and you need to attend your reception because it cost a fortune and you know Alcide is going to make it his personal goal to drink all the beer before he gets some stupid idea that only you can talk him down from. So go out there and mingle while I get Sookie changed." He huffed then gave me one more kiss and held my left hand fingering my wedding rings for a few moments before Pam got to impatient and pulled me away and up the stairs.

Once we got there I huffed a little bit feeling just as annoyed at Pam as Eric was in that moment. Even though I knew she was right, that doesn't mean I have to be okay with it. I mean, I know Cheetos are bad for me but I still can eat a whole bag in one sitting. Pam rolled her eyes when she took in my sullen look as she came back with the garment bag filled with my second dress.

"You know Sookie, if you keep making that face it will stick that way or you will prematurely wrinkle." She unzipped the bag and I took the moment that her back was turned to look in the mirror and ran my hand on my forehead and bridge of my nose to try and smooth out any nonexistent wrinkles that may have formed from my scowl.

She turned around holding the shorter version of my ceremony dress even complete with a shorter flame train that looked awesome as a contrast to the short white skirt. She tediously undid all of what seemed like a thousand buttons down the back of my dress. Finally like the angel of mercy, she shucked the dress off of me placing it on its hanger and grabbed the shorter version.

As she was helping me step into this one she said, "You know I am very excited to call you my sister. The thing about us worrying about Eric dying with a 100 cats is true. Before you, he never dated. He poured all of his time into me and the firehouse. He used to say it was because he never found someone worth changing his life for, but with you Sookie you two just fit seamlessly together. Neither of you had to make massive adjustments to fit together. It was like you were just waiting to find each other." I smiled and nodded, it was the truth before Eric I had only dated one guy and that was JB DuRone and he was an idiot, I stayed with him all through high school for the convenience, not for the feelings.

I noticed that Pam had sealed up this dress far quicker than before and I turned to give her a questioning look and she just said. "Velcro, I know my brother and he won't want to bother with a hundred buttons and this will prevent him from destroying the dress in his haste." I laughed and nodded thinking about how many pieces of clothing that has died at Eric's hands because he was in a hurry. She finally finished and touched up my make-up and hair before patting me on the butt and saying. "Go get em' tiger!"

I rolled my eyes and let out a, "Har, har." Before sauntering down the stairs and back outside, I walked a little ways until I approached the tent that was set up for the reception right next to the pond and the site of our first date. I walked through the archway and entered the party. I took everything in. This really was perfect. There were vines and twinkle lights. All of the tables had deep green cloths with lovely embroidered floral accents. It really looked like an enchanted forest from a fairy tale.

I made a bee line for Eric who was talking to a bouncing Amelia and my Gran who was sulking by the obvious loss of her conquest. At first I thought she was just flirting with him to be silly but as the months wore on I started to question her motives. I came up behind him, wrapped my arms around his waist resting my face on the middle of his back. I could hear him let out a contented sigh as he reached back to bring me around to his other side. I gladly complied enjoying the soft silky feel of his dress shirt on my skin.

He tilted my head up to look at him and said, "Oh Lover, I thought I was going to have to send out a search party. I truly feared Pam had finally gotten her way and you two ran away into the sunset holding hands." I laughed, and he leaned down capturing my lips in a soft sweet kiss. The look in his eyes was one of pure bliss, and I am sure the same sentiment was mirrored in my own eyes. The DJ started the music and Eric grabbed my hand and made a silly exaggerated bow and asked. "May I have this dance?" I giggled like a teenager and nodded allowing him to sweep me up his arms. Our height difference was always an issue, and I'm sure Eric looked like a hunchback leaning down to my height so he could give me kisses along with whispered words of love and adoration in my ear. It was like everything around us melted away and it was just us for those moments. However our little bubble of isolated bliss ended far too soon for my liking. I was painfully aware that it was time for us to start schmoozing with our guests.

We made the rounds, stopping to talk to groups of people, soaking up the well wishes and congratulations. We shook hands and kissed cheeks, when really all I wanted to do was go and have some alone time with my new husband. I have to say this whole wedding reception thing seemed a lot more fun while I was planning it, now it just seems annoying. We heard the DJ announce that the meal was about to be served so we went and took our places at the table that held the rest of our wedding party.

Pam was sitting next to Alcide rolling her eyes and trying to dodge his most recent advance. It seems the words "I'm a lesbian." mean nothing to him. On our other side were Amelia and Tray who were nuzzling and looking very in love. Amelia has been suspicious that he might be popping the question soon. If only she knew that Eric went ring shopping with him last week under the guise of a bachelor party.

When our food was served, to say I was excited was an understatement. My favorite thing that I did for this wedding was picking the food. The first course was an Amuse-Bouche of a smoked salmon mini quiche. The second course was lobster bisque with a saffron crust. For the third course we had the most tender filet mignon I have ever tasted, with grilled marinated asparagus and mashed turnips with fresh herbs. To round off the meal we just served a lemon sorbet because we were going to have the most delicious raspberry and lemon cream cake later.

Through the whole meal Eric fed me, always slapping my hand away and saying "Let me have my fun." like he always does. We snuck tender kisses and I enjoyed the silence from all of our guests during the meal, because you know the sure sign of a good meal is when it is eaten in silence. When the last of our plates were cleared the music qued up and almost everyone flooded onto the dance floor.

Eric, even being a very tall lanky man who is 90% limbs, is a very good dancer. I imagine the only times it looked awkward to an outsider is when he was hunching down to make up for our egregious height difference and that is really my fault for "not knowing how to grow right" as Eric has told me on more than one occasion. I have to laugh every time because I think 6'5" is a more abnormal height than 5'3". We spun, jumped and swayed well into the night. Our friends were getting progressively drunker when an absolutely wasted Alcide approached us while we were taking a breather.

"Dude…. Dude! We should totally go play ultimate Frisbee!" He yelled in a drunken slurred southern accent.

"No." Eric said his eyes never leaving mine but the tone of his voice was final. However the tone of Eric's voice did not put off Alcide from whining.

"Awe come on man, why not?"

Eric finally tore his eyes from mine and the third piece of cake that we were sharing and stared Alcide down before saying. "Because it is one am, pitch black, and I live on land that holds wild animals. The last thing I need is you getting eaten by a gator or a wild pig or a panther. That is just a scenario I am less than interested in exploring tonight so why don't you go find a pretty lady and ask her to dance and eat some cake to soak up some of that beer and Jack."

Alcide's eyes narrowed and he let off a pout that looked ridiculous on a man his age and said. "You're no fun man. I'm gonna go get some cake… I like cake." We waited until he was out of earshot before we both erupted with laughter.

I playfully slapped Eric's chest and said. "Everytime! Pam was right, can you imagine if we hadn't of been here and his dumb ass had been trudging through the woods? Really you're like his guardian angel." Eric just shrugged and fed me another bite of cake before getting one for him.

We snuggled, ate and danced with our friends and family until about four am. The crowd was starting to thin out. The only people left were people who we already figured would be staying the night anyway. Eric took a look around and grabbed my hand with a wink. We slowly inched towards the edge of the tent so we could make our escape without being noticed, and much to my surprise we did. Once we were outside the tent Eric bent down grabbing me and tossing me over his shoulder before sprinting towards the house.

He flung the door open and didn't even stop to shut it, he just kept running. He bounded up the stairs. I started to giggle which gained me a playful smack on the ass. He thrust the door to our room open so fast I thought it might break. The only time he slowed down was to lock the door. He unceremoniously tossed me into the middle of the bed, and crawled up until his face was mere inches from my own.

Lust and love poured off of him in droves as he bent to nuzzle and kiss my neck before asking. "What's your name?"

I looked him in the eye and smiled replying. "Mrs. Northman."

His grin broadened as he laid his head on my chest right above my heart and said. "Say it again."

I smiled and pulled him to my lips and punctuating every word with a kiss. "Mrs. _'Kiss' _Sookie '_kiss' _Northman '_kiss'." _I never felt as lucky as I did in that moment looking into the eyes of a man that loves me more than anything, just as I do him.


	5. Chapter 5

**Present Day**

_Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep…Beep_

My body was stiff and I couldn't open my eyes yet. The air smelled stale and I could hear voices talking near me, but distant at the same time. I was alarmed because I was waking up and I didn't know where I was. This was not my bed nor my house… I finally forced my eyes open and saw Eric laying on a bed next to me with both of his legs and his right arm in traction. He was on a ventilator and the beeping, I heard before, was coming from the heart monitor that he was hooked up to. I was still groggy, but I managed to start crying again. I had desperately hoped that this was all just a bad nightmare; but now it seemed even more real than before.

Amelia came over and took my hand and said. "Well hey there sleeping beauty, I heard you threw a fit of Mariah Carry proportions and made Alcide cry."

I crushed my eyes shut letting more tears escape nodding my head completely silent except for one choked sob that sounded more like a whimper. "Do you want the update on Eric? I also want to warn you to keep your cool because I have orders to sedate you again if you get all worked up." I took a few deep breaths and accepted the cool wash cloth that she offered me wiping my face and neck before handing it back to her and indicating that I could be cool and listen. She took a perch on the side of my bed smoothing out her scrubs and removing nonexistent dirt and lint before she began.

"Eric sustained multiple injuries, let me start with the good news first. Miraculously he suffered no neck or spine trauma." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and waved my hand in an indication that she could continue. "He had multiple breaks and fractures in both legs and will most likely set off metal detectors from now on." I let out a shy smile and strangled laugh and she also smiled as she continued. "The burns on his arm were pretty bad but they have been cleaned and grafted. Now you can tease him about having his ass skin on his arm because Dr. Compton was laughing when he did that." I looked down with a more genuine smile now and shook my head. Bill was going to revel in that victory until the day he dies. "The break in his arm was really bad, it severed a nerve and they are hoping he will regain full function but until they wake him they won't know the full extent…"

I cut her off quickly and asked in a clipped tone, "What do you mean 'when they wake him'?"

She looked down before saying. "They decided to medically induce a coma because he also suffered a ruptured spleen and punctured lung from his broken ribs. They felt his recovery might be set back because of the amount of pain he would be in if he was awake." I nodded and hung my head allowing the tears to come once again. This was my worst fear come to life.

I had never really worried about Eric at work before because as long as I have known him this is who he has been and what he has done. I never knew any different. Also we live in a very small town and action is really few and far in between around here. I guess I always knew the dangers, but I never thought anything would ever happen to Eric. He has always seemed so invincible. The only time I have ever seen him weakened in any way was a few years ago when he caught a cold and even then I am pretty sure he was milking it for attention from his "private nurse" as he kept calling me.

I looked up at my friend who was stretching her scrub top almost to capacity, she was almost 6 months along and she two would have to start stealing t-shirts to wear to work before long. Her eyes were sad and her sorrow was not making this any easier. I am sure this is freaking her out also because it could have easily been Tray instead.

I just looked her in the eyes and asked, "Can I just have some time alone?" I gave her my best 'I will be fine' smile but I know that it neither looked genuine nor reached my eyes.

She just sniffed and looked a little glassy eyed before saying., "Sure thing hon, you call if you need something okay?" I nodded and watched her walk out.

I hopped off of the bed and tottered into the bathroom where I did my business and came back out. I took a look at Eric before I walked back over to my bed, releasing the brakes on the wheels, and moved it right next to his before resetting the brakes. I lowered my left side railing and his right before climbing in and laying my head on the pillow next to his, twining my fingers with his uninjured hand. I closed my eyes taking comfort in the melodic beeping of the machines, because for now that means that he is going to be okay.

_I just need you to be okay._ I thought to myself before sleep once again captured my body and mind.

**3 Years Earlier**

I was packing like a mad man; Eric and I found out tonight that we could finally get a full 7 days in a row off at the same time. We were going to get to take our Honeymoon. I have been waiting over a year for this! I sent Eric to the office to just buy what whatever tickets for any plane that leaves tonight and we will plan from there. The only thing we decided on was beaches. Everything else was up in the air. I finally got everything shoved into our bags and I really didn't care if we had everything we needed, we could always shop if I forgot something.

Eric came running into the room panting and threw my flip flops at me and I shoved them on my feet as I followed him down the stairs and into the car. He tossed our bags in the back and hopped into the front seat; backing out of the driveway like our lives depended on it. Driving like a bat out of hell to the airport.

After a few minutes for us to both calm down I finally asked, "So… where are we going?"

He turned to me with a smile before saying, "Greece."

I let out a loud excited scream and stomped my feet while pumping my fists in the air in celebration. Eric chuckled and asked. "Did I make a good choice? It was this or Hawaii, but I figured that was clichéd for a honeymoon."

I snatched his hand off of the gear shift and kissed every single one of his fingers over and over before saying, "Oh yes! You made a great decision. I can't wait to lay on the beach with you and oh gosh, think of all the history we will see, you know how much I like seafood, and they eat tons of sea food!" I was vibrating with excitement as I made a mental note of the things that we will need to buy because I certainly did not pack for international travel, but really who gives a shit. WE'RE GOING TO GREECE!

We pulled into the airport long term parking lot and quickly got out. Eric grabbed both of our bags with me trailing behind him running while he walked at a slightly quickened pace. His long legs were practically forcing me to sprint. We got to the ticket counter and checked in. Eric tossed me my passport, that I didn't know he had, but that I was thankful he had thought about it because that thought had not crossed my mind yet. We walked through security grinning like fools. By the time we made it through we were cutting time really close. Eric was running and I was trying to keep up; but he finally stopped, picked me up, and ran carrying me to the terminal.

I was laughing like a loon and he just laughed out. "Your legs are so freaking short!" I continued to laugh and he not so gently set me down in front of the terminal just as they were starting to close the doors. The girl smiled at us while checking our tickets and passports before ushering us onto the plane with a little laughter at our excitement. We walked over to our seats that were in first class. I turned and frowned at Eric not wanting to think about how much these cost.

He turned and pointed towards coach that was packed like a can of sardines saying, "You said anything with two seats; you did not specify where the seats had to be. Don't worry we have plenty of money." I continued to scowl when he pushed me into the seat by the window and plopped down next to me buckling my seat belt and then his own before he said. "We are fine, you always think we are paycheck to paycheck but we're not, just enjoy this with me." He uncrossed my arms and laid his head on the seat and held my hand before saying. "We only get to take one honeymoon, let's not worry about cost." I softened and squeezed his hand before kissing it again. He smiled and looked at me before turning his head back and closing his eyes.

The plane started to taxi and I tensed up. Eric turned his head and opened one eye, letting lose a little smirk before he said, "Are you afraid of flying?"

I did not appreciate the light laughter in his voice but I pushed that aside for now and said, "I have never flown before." He snapped his head the rest of the way around and opened his other eye, looking at me like I had grown two heads before he saying, "You are shitting me!"

I narrowed his eyes and I squealed., "I am not shitting you!" The plane started to take off and I clutched Eric's hand as hard as I could crushing it against my chest. I felt him wince at my grip, but I was not loosening up. He was trying to calm me down, but I just tightened my hold.

Finally Eric used his other hand to peel me off of him and he said, "Shit Sook, we're in the air now! You're going to break my hand with your kung fu grip."

I let go giving him a sheepish smile before saying, "Sorry baby. Are you okay?"

He smirked at me and rubbed the hand that I had been trying to crush and said, "I don't know, we need to wait and see if they'll be able to salvage any of the bones in my hand." I crinkled my nose and felt a little guilty. My face must have reflected my emotions because he reached over and pulled me towards him and kissed the top of my head before whispering to me. "I'm fine, you do have a little death grip on you; huh there Killer?" I rolled my eyes and playfully smacked him. He feigned hurt, clutching his arm and whined. "Hey come on now, someday I will tell people how you beat me." I busted up laughing and unbuckled my seatbelt when the sign turned off, and snuggled in Eric's side relishing in the warmth that the arm he flung around me brought and closed my eyes, learning that I was one of the lucky people that can sleep on a plane with no problems.

I woke up about six hours later by Eric's laughter at the movie he was watching. When he noticed I was awake he took off his head phones and said, "Hey, sorry I woke you up." I smiled and stretched, really enjoying all of the leg room that these seats provided. I will have to make a mental note not to bitch about luxury again, because this is awesome.

I looked at him and gave him a soft kiss before saying, "No it's cool; I feel rested… hungry but rested."

He smiled at me and said, "I figured you would be waking up soon so I grabbed you an iced tea and some animal crackers. They will be serving dinner soon. I put you down for pasta; I figured you would be okay with that." My face lit up when he handed me the tea and animal crackers that he got for me.

I cracked into the little box of cookies and put one in my mouth letting out a little groan before I said, "Mmm, I love these."

He smiled as he put his head phones back on and plugged in a set for me a placed them over my head before he said, "I know, you love any food that reminds you of your childhood." I smiled and leaned back and watched the rest of 'Anchorman' with him until they served dinner, and Eric was right after seeing what the other options for dinner looked like I was very pleased that he got me pasta.

The rest of the flight was pretty uneventful; we watched a bunch of movies and played cards for a while. I'm pretty sure he was letting me win because realistically no one can be that crappy at cards. He even lost miserably at 'go fish'. When they served breakfast Eric and I picked off each other's plates crinkling our noses at one another, and making promises to eat real food as soon as we get off the plane. The plane finally landed and I nearly destroyed Eric's hand again, this time he took it a little better, but has now taken to calling me 'Killer' which is an endearment I may have earned, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

The plane sat on the runway for what seemed like forever before we finally pulled up to a gate and got off, but then we had to wait to go through customs to have our bags searched, when the customs agent asked Eric. "Are you here for business or pleasure?"

Eric gave me a heated look and purred, "Pleasure." His eyes never leaving mine. I gave a little involuntary shiver before giving him a wink. The man questioning us just rolled his eyes with a chuckle and waved us through.

We got outside and I was suddenly hit with a little wave of panic. I grabbed Eric's arm and whisper yelled. "Oh my God, what do we do now? We didn't plan this trip at all!"

He just pulled me into him and soothingly rubbed his hands on my back saying, "Chill out Killer, the next stop is the hotel then food."

I shot him a look hissing, "What hotel."

He rolled his eyes while saying, "I told you to chill out." I just made my face look even more hostile before he continued. "I booked the hotel when I booked the flight. It is the magic of the internet." I simmered down and he gave me a kiss before he got us a cab and said. "You need to learn to trust me."

I sighed and said. "You remembered our passports, cell chargers, iPods and you booked the hotel… I have to say I have never been happier that all I did was pack because those are things I never would have remembered, and yet it's like it didn't even faze you."

He shrugged before saying, "I'm just that good."

I rolled my eyes as I got into the car while he put our luggage in the back and when he sat next to me I said. "And humble too."

He smiled grabbing my hand to hold, winked at me, and retorted. "Yup."

We arrived at the hotel and checked in. The concierge didn't speak English and we don't speak Greek so that posed some interesting issues. Eric and the man were surprisingly calm with one another while they tried to work it out even laughing once in a while with one another. I have no idea what they found so funny but apparently it was the same in both languages. We finally got our room key and headed up to the ninth floor. Eric fumbled with the lock and key finally getting it open after some growling and dirty looks.

When he opened the door, we walked in the first thing I noticed was the giant wall of windows right in front of us overlooking the sapphire blue ocean. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The sand on the beach was almost white and the water was the clearest I have ever seen. It was only accented by the cute little fishing boats floating on the water. I opened the sliding door and leaned on the railing of our suite taking in the sight of the clear blue sky and the smell of the fresh salty air. Eric came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist resting his chin on the top on my head and said. "I think I made the right choice."

I turned to smile at him, and leaned into him for a kiss before saying, "Yes, the best choice."

About two hours later we finally left our room to search out food and lay on the beach for a while. After all, this is our belated honeymoon. We were walking down the street when I noticed that Eric and I were accidently matching again. I was wearing a billowy white sun dress with dark sunglasses and Eric was wearing tan shorts and a white button down. I had to internally smile at the fact everyone will know that we belong to each other, plus he looks great in button downs. We finally decided on a place to eat. I got my first taste of hummus and instantly knew I was hooked.

We finally made it down to the beach. Laying in the sun for a while before making it down to the water. Eric just ran and dove in like he does with all bodies of water. I however walked to the edge of the water and just looked down at my feet in the crystal clear water wiggling my toes and enjoying the feel of the rough moist sand between my toes. I was obviously not paying attention to what was going on around me because I didn't see Eric coming up behind me. He scooped me up and ran into the ocean throwing me into the waves.

I screamed, "Eric!"

He just laughed and spun me around in the water saying, "You were just standing there. I figured I would help."

I playfully smacked him and made a mock angry face before saying, "My hair is ruined now."

He looked down at me with a raised eyebrow and said with absolutely zero sincerity, "Sookie, I am so sorry. I don't know if I will ever be able to forgive myself for this atrocity." I giggled and we played in the water more until the sun started to set, then went and laid on the beach to watch the sunset. We stayed there for hours talking and looking at the stars together before we decided to go back to the room and just order room service.

Later that night or early that morning we were laying in bed wrapped up in one another talking when I kissed him softly and said, "This was worth the wait, wasn't it?"

He smiled kissing my nose, eyes, cheeks and finally my lips before he said, "Well worth the wait… well worth it." He pulled me close, whispering that last part as we drifted off to sleep in paradise.


	6. Chapter 6

**Present Day**

"You will not touch him!" I hissed at the stupid little nurse trying to touch my husband.

"Ma'am, I am just trying to take his vitals."

I glared at her and she recoiled from the look on my face before I said, "No one touches him except me, Amelia, Dr. Compton or Dr. Tally. I took his vitals fifteen minutes ago and I logged it in his chart. Now GET THE FUCK OUT!" I yelled waddling over to her, poking her in the chest forcing her out of the door.

She huffed as she crossed the threshold into the hallway before saying, "Listen lady, you may think your hot shit but this is my floor."

I glared at her and leaned out the door calling for Felicia who is the head nurse on this floor. She walked over and said, "Hey Sookie, how are ya'll doing today."

I smiled at her and said, "Awe, we're doing well. Eric is getting stronger and the munchkin is kicking hard. Dr. Compton said they are going to bring him out of the coma in the next two or three days and the ventilator is next."

She smiled, resting a friendly hand on my shoulder saying, "Sook, that's real good, I'm so glad. Now what's up? Ginger what the hell were you doing in this room? It's covered, I told you that day's ago." Felicia's hand landed on her hip as she leveled Ginger with a look.

I took by Ginger's silence that she wasn't going to answer the question so I answered it for her. "Well, she came in and tried to take Eric's vitals. I thought I had been clear about my wishes for his care."

Felicia smiled at me giving me a reassuring pat and said, "We know no one but you, Amelia, Dr. Compton or Dr. Tally. I told all of the staff on this floor, I don't know why some people can't listen." She gave Ginger a pointed look before she gave me a smile and said, "It won't happen again Mrs. Northman." I smiled and pulled her in for a close a hug, or as close as I could give, considering the size of my belly.

"Thank you Felicia. Why don't you come in here for lunch and we can catch up?"

She lit up and said, "Should I bring something?"

I shook my head no and said, "Oh no, my Gran is bringing more food when she drops off some more clothes and shampoo for me today."

She gave me a sad smile and said, "Sweetie, are you ever gonna go home?"

I looked at my feet and my voice faltered a little as I said, "Eric is my home, I go where he goes." She just smiled and nodded as she dragged Ginger with her down the hall and back to the nurses' station.

**2 Years Earlier**

_I'm a Barbie Girl in a Barbie world, it's fantastic to be plastic, come on Barbie lets go Party oh, oh, oh yah_

"Eric, pick up your Gad damn phone!" I shoved him as the piercing nineties pop music came blasting from his blackberry.

He groaned rolling over, so I smacked him again and he finally got up and said, "Fine, I got it!" He snatched the phone off the nightstand gruffly saying, "What?" He listened to the person on the other end for a moment before he groaned and said. "I'll be right down." He hung up the phone and threw it across the room and flopped back covering his face with his hands. I looked at the clock 3am… shit!

"Who was it?" I asked.

"Tray. Amelia's dad is in town. The three of them had some blow out, she left in a huff and he can't find her. She doesn't have her phone with her because she left without it. I'm going to go help him look for her. I guess her dad just went to bed and didn't give a shit where she went."

I shot up out of bed and grabbed a pair of yoga pant's to throw on and tossed my hair into a pony tail before I said, "I know where she is." He sat up and stared at me silently urging me to continue. "When Tray get's here keep him here, I'll be right back." I went to go out of our bedroom door, but I turned around real quick before I said, "Put some clothes on." He let out a tired laugh and shook his head as he got up to riffle through his drawers for some pants.

I went out our back door, because I knew exactly where I was going. A few years ago Amelia found the tree house on the back of our property and she said if she were to ever run away she would come live in the tree house because it was "Just like the Ewok's". If I know her, and I do; I will bet my life that she is hiding out in there because she thinks no one will think to look there. Honestly if she hadn't mentioned it to me before I never would have thought of it.

I walked all the way to the big oak tree that holds the tree house and I saw a light streaming out of the window. Like I said I knew she would be here. I slowly approached the tree and saw that she had pulled the ladder up, so I stood at the bottom of the tree and called up to her. "Amelia?"

I heard sniffles and then she replied, "Yeah?"

I smiled knowing that her tone indicated that she would be willing to talk. "Can you toss down the ladder so I can come up?"

I heard some shuffling before I heard, "Yeah, stand back." I took a few steps back and saw the ladder fall. I grabbed the edges and climbed up into the tree house. I saw Amelia sitting on the ground with four cans of pizza flavored Pringles, a bag of mini Twix and an electric lantern. I took a tentative seat on the floor, being careful not to spook her. I know that if it was bad enough to run away she must be having some really big issues. She settled back and grabbed one of the Pringles can's and relaxed a little before diving in to eat it. I took this as my cue to start the conversation.

"So Ame… Tray called, he's worried." She looked at me then grabbed a big stack of chips stuffing them in her mouth sending crumbs tumbling into her cleavage.

"I know, I forgot my phone."

I nodded and asked, "Is it cool if I text him and let him know you're safe?" She nodded and ripped open a mini candy bar. I took out my phone and sent to Eric

'_I found Amelia, we're going to talk and come home. We're still on the property.'_

I snapped my phone shut and said, "You want to talk about it?" She nodded again, once again testing the limits of her mouth with another huge stack of Pringles.

"Well you know daddy never liked Tray?" I nodded my head and she plowed on. "Well he was pissed that we even got married. He came to see our new house and Sookie let me tell you he ripped it apart at every turn. I took it really personal and it put me on edge." She unwrapped another candy bar and sandwiched it in between two smaller stacks of chips. "Well we were sitting and watching TV. Tray said how cute a baby in a diaper commercial was and I said our babies would be cuter and my Dad said he prays to God that we're sterile because I will be dead to him if I ever get pregnant by Tray." She hung her head low and whispered. "I'm already pregnant, I found out yesterday and I was going to tell them both tonight. I thought it was going to be a happy thing and bring us all together…" She took in a deep breath and a let a tear slip out and she ate some of her cleavage crumbs before finishing. "What if Tray doesn't want me anymore after the scene my dad put on? I love him and I want to have this baby with him, I couldn't stand it if my dad drove him away."

I crawled over to her and pulled her into a hug and said, "Oh sweetie, Tray has been a basket case looking for you! He loves you and he is going to be excited about the baby." I rubbed her back while she cried, ignoring the crumbs and chocolate debris that were grinding into me and continued. "No one likes your dad, he's a jerk." She nodded her head and wiped her eyes. I pulled away from her and said, "Let's pack up your snacks and head into the house Tray should be waiting for you there." I helped her down the ladder and we talked a little on the way back to the house. I stopped and tugged on her arm stopping her also and asked, "Did you change Eric's ring tone?"

She bent over laughing and squeaked out, "Yes, how funny was it?"

I laughed a little also and said as we continued to the house, "It would have been a hell of a lot funnier if it hadn't have been at three am." She shrugged and gave me a sheepish smile. I shook my head and opened the back door. We were immediately bombarded by Tray who grabbed Amelia and held her to him like if he were to loosen his grip she might disappear. Tray was busy apologizing for everything he may have done or may do in the future when I made my way to Eric who was sitting on the couch with his head leaning back and eyes closed.

He popped one eye open as I approached him and he asked, "How did it go? Is she cool now? Can we go back to bed?" He asked in rapid succession.

I climbed into his lap laying my head on his shoulder, snuggling down as he wrapped his arms around me and said, "I think she will be fine, and we can't go to bed until they leave."

He groaned and asked, "Can we kick them out?"

I chuckled and closed my eyes also before I said, "No we can't. I might be able to talk them into spending the night in one of the guestrooms so we can all just go to bed."

He nodded his head vigorously and said, "Yes, let's do that… right now." He stood up still holding me and walked into the kitchen where we found Tray and Amelia making out on our kitchen table. Eric growled and smacked Tray before saying, "Dude, go upstairs and use a guest room, we freaking eat here!"

Tray rolled off Amelia taking her hand leading her to the stairs before he beamed, "Hey man, I'm gonna be a Daddy!" Eric raised an eye brow at the squealing Amelia let out when he said that.

All he did was say, "We'll celebrate in the morning. For now, you two go use the guest room downstairs because we're freaking tired and are going to bed, goodnight." Eric turned us around and headed up the stairs. When we finally got to our room he laid me down on my side of the bed before he slid in behind me pulling me close to him spooning. He took a deep breath and let out a labored sigh before saying, "I think you should stop taking your birth control." I turned my head to look at him and he had a huge smile on his face that I was mirroring.

I kissed him and said, "I think I should too."

He kissed me and he gently pushed my face down before saying, "Okay good, now sleep." I giggled and pressed into him and fell back asleep with a smile on my face.


	7. Chapter 7

**Present Day**

"Alright Sookie. We're going to discontinue the coma. He should wake up soon." Dr. Compton said. I nodded my head and looked down at my husband.

I let out a large sigh and wiped away the one traitorous stray tear that fell and said, "How soon can you remove the ventilator?"

He smiled at me and patted my shoulder before saying, "I will be back tonight before I leave and we will try to remove it tonight." I let a genuine smile leave my lips for the first time in three weeks. The sooner Eric wakes up the better. I feel like I'm ready to burst and I only have five weeks left before my due date. I desperately want Eric to be awake and present when our baby is born. I wish I could call the baby him or her, but like the geniuses that we are, we thought having it be a surprise would be fun… well it's not fun and I was getting annoyed with it even before Eric's accident. We also haven't really discussed names in depth and I WILL NOT name our baby without his input.

"Thank you so much… I have been so worried and I…" I started to cry again. I was clutching my stomach and I felt my legs start to waver. Dr. Compton rushed over to steady me, helping me up into the bed.

He took my hand and tucked it into Eric's before covering me with the blankets and said, "Sookie, he is a fighter. You and I both know it will take a hell of a lot more than falling through a house to get rid of him." I laughed, nodding my head before resting it on Eric's shoulder.

Dr. Compton asked me if I had any questions before he left and I said, "You know, I really thought his burns would have been worse."

Dr. Compton chuckled, his whole body shook with mirth and he said, "I don't think that man could be set on fire if he tried. The only thing he loves more than his family is fire and the flames respect him as a form of professional courtesy." I laughed so hard, tears slipped out of my eyes and I had to have Dr. Compton help me out of bed so that I could go to the bathroom before I wet myself. He finally helped me back to bed after I calmed and did my business.

I settled back next to Eric. Dr. Compton patted me and said, "Get some rest, the next few days will be better I promise." I closed my eyes and nodded. I held Eric's hand to my heart after I kissed all of his fingers. I tried to take some deep breaths to clam myself down, but I was just too worried. What if he doesn't wake up? What if he gets an infection? Eric just has to wake up… he just has to.

After I cried and stewed in my worries for a few hours, I was finally able to fall asleep. It was a fitful sleep, but sleep none the less, and recently sleep has mostly been eluding me.

**18 months earlier**

I stared at my car which I just had to have towed home. I am not looking forward to Eric coming home and seeing this. Eric has been trying to get me to buy a new car for years, but I have always vehemently refused. My little 1991 Chevy Lumina has been with me since I was 16. I busted my ass slinging beer and wings at the local bar to afford it. I just don't want to part with it.

However over the last year its condition has gone steadily downhill. Eric has had to drive me to work on more than once this month because my car wouldn't start or was in the shop. He is getting frustrated with spending so much money repairing it when it's not even worth what we spend to repair it. I think after the last fight that we had over this that I need to just suck it up and ask Eric to take me to the car lot.

The tow truck was just finishing off loading my car and was handing me the bill when Eric drove up. I saw him slam his hand on the steering wheel and roughly snatch his duffel out of the back seat of the Bronco. He slammed his car door and stomped right past me into the house. I sighed and followed him after I signed the slip thanking the driver. When I found Eric he was sitting on the couch with a beer in hand watching sports center.

I slowly approached him not wanting to start a fight about this again and said, "Eric, I was wondering if we could go to the car lot tonight."

His head whipped around, slamming his beer on the table, and folded his arms before giving me a pointed look and saying, "Don't fuck with me Sookie. Just write the check and don't talk to me about it." I sighed and slumped into the couch next to him and tried to avoid his glare that might have been comparable to Superman's laser vision.

"I'm not fucking with you Eric. I want a new car and I want you to come with me to pick it out." I said. His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to see if I was just pulling his leg or not. I guess he found what he was looking for because the tension in his body finally released a little bit.

He leaned back and asked, "What kind of car do you want?" I smiled knowing exactly what I wanted, but not wanting to admit to wanting a pink mini cooper.

So I just said, "I don't know. What do you think I should get? All I know is that I want something brand new that no one has ever owned before."

Eric's mouth started to curl up into a smirk before he said, "I have a few ideas. Let me go make some calls and we will go after dinner. What do you want to eat?" I thought on that for a moment. I had been so concerned with not instigating another blow out with Eric over my stupid sentimentality regarding my car that I had not even thought about dinner; in fact I don't remember taking anything out to defrost this morning.

"I don't think I took anything out for dinner… can we just order something." He smiled and nodded. I know exactly what he wants because he asks for it every time I suggest we order in so I am not surprised by his answer.

"Can we get 'Oddles of Noodles'?" I roll my eyes as I get up to go get the menu and bring it back to us. I sit down and hold it out to him knowing full well that he doesn't need to look at it. Just like I thought he shook his head and held up his hand in a 'no thank you' motion and said, "It's cool, I know what I want." I laughed and mulled over the menu, taking longer than I really needed to just because it is so fun for me to watch him stare at me expectantly clutching his phone waiting to make the call.

I finally let out a dramatic sigh, setting down the menu and saying, "I want the Spaghetti with Sand." Eric nodded and pushed the speed dial on the phone to place our order. I sat back and listened to the call that I have heard him make what feels like a thousand times in the last four and a half years.

"Hi I would like to place an order for delivery." _I think we should take out stock in this place. _I thought to myself. "The order is for the Northman's." I rolled my eyes. They know who he is; we eat from there once a week. "Yes, we want one order of the Spaghetti with Sand, one order of Princess Penne al la vodka, a bag of bread sticks and two black and white cookies." I chuckled like I always do when he orders himself the Princess Penne. It really is delicious, but it's served in a pink box and it's probably the least manly thing on the menu. He only found out how good it was from eating my leftovers one morning before work and now he is hooked.

He finished placing the order with a smile on his face. When he hung up his phone he said, "I'm going to go to the office and look at some things before we go tonight." He got up to leave and I grabbed the clicker to change the channel.

I was flicking through the guide for about two minutes before he ran back into the room and knelt in front of me nuzzling my knees and asked, "Sookie, can I please set your old car on fire?" I sighed and nodded my head. He popped up and gave me a big kiss on the lips thanking me and went running back out of the room. I figured it was fine, after all the crap I put him through with that car I might as well let him get some enjoyment out of it. I was just going to send it to a junkyard anyway. This way Eric gets a chance to play with fire and I will feel like I have started to make it up to him after having to deal with me being so stubborn about that car for the last year.

I finally settled on a rerun of 'One Tree Hill' while I waited for the food and Eric. I was intently watching when I heard the door bell go off. I was about to get up, but then sat back down when I heard Eric running to get the door. I swear that man almost never walks and even when he does it is still fast. I lost 10 pounds when we started dating just from me trying to keep up with the combination of his long legs and constant fast pace.

I could hear him paying and thanking the delivery girl, and then I heard him running into the kitchen with our food as he yelled, "Food's here!" I shook my head and laughed. _As if I couldn't hear the door bell or you thunder toes running across the tile. _I thought. Stealth is never going to be a skill that Eric will ever possess. I sauntered into the kitchen where I saw my meal already sitting open on the table with a can of orange soda sitting next to it. Eric was already steadily working on his as I leisurely sagged into my chair. By the time I opened my soda, poured it into the glass and picked up my fork Eric was half done; looking slightly sheepish as he watched me take my first bite. We both laughed and he just shrugged and dug right back into his dinner.

He finished his dinner first and started to clean up as I finished. He was rinsing his plate and putting it in the dish washer when he said, "I picked a car for you. It won't be ready for about a week, but I promise you will love it."

I shoved my last bite of food into my mouth with a little more force than necessary and huffed before I seethed, "Eric, I want to pick my own God Damn car! If you want a new car buy your own. I don't want some stupid truck or SUV." I walked to the sink and shoved my plate at him to rinse. I only became more incised with rage when I saw him standing there with a huge grin still plastered on his face. I let out a growl and asked, "What are you smiling at? I'm pissed!"

He just chuckled putting my plate in the dishwasher before shutting it and turning to languidly rest against the counter. Pulling his arms up behind him and lacing his fingers behind his head and saying, "You are going to be so sorry you yelled at me once you see what I picked for you. I swear if you were a car this is what you would be."

I rolled my eyes and stormed out of the room. I heard him call after me. "Go put your shoes on and we can go to the lot. You can take it for a test drive and apologize to me." I opened the door to our bedroom with a loud, high pitched growl, stomping into the closet and sliding my flip flops onto my feet. I seethed in the closet for a few minutes before I stomped downstairs and out the door. I tapped my foot in front of the passenger side door of the Bronco. Eric walked out about a minute or two later with a smile on his face. He locked the door and strutted to the car all the time ignoring the daggers I was trying to shoot at him with my eyes.

The drive to the dealership that he was taking me to was completely silent on my end. Eric however seemed to have no problem having an entire conversation with himself. "So Sookie, are you excited?" Nothing I stayed silent. "Me too! I just know you're going to love this!" I rolled my eyes but kept them trained out the window. "Do you think we should finally finish the basement?" This is a topic I would like to discuss with him; however I will not stray from my current silent treatment course of action. "I think we should buy a giant TV and turn it into a huge football room." I cringed. He is just saying that to get a reaction, but I won't give him the satisfaction. He knows I want to make it into three separate rooms and have a theater, gym, laundry, and ironing room.

"We can buy those recliners that are sort of shaped like footballs and we can install a full bar." I really hope that he is messing with me because here we are talking about having a baby and he wants to dedicate 1,000 square feet to flipping football. "We should get green carpet… or NO! We should put turf down there." I am now gripping the door handle like my life depends on it.

We drive in silence for a few moments before he says, "Or we could just break it into three rooms having a theater, gym and laundry/ironing room."

I looked at him with a confused look and he just shot me a sly smile and leaned over to unbuckle me before he said, "We're here." I knew he was just messing with me. I wanted to smile at his antics but I continued to stay the course of my bad mood as he pulled me into the showroom.

He walked up to the desk dragging me behind him and spoke to the boy at the counter. "Hello, I'm Eric Northman. Is Sully here? We have an appointment." The boy shot a nervous smile at Eric as he buzzed Sully. He looked like he wasn't more than eighteen and I would guess that he is still pretty new to this job.

"He will be right out Mr. Northman." The boy said as he set the phone back down. Eric thanked him and sat me in a chair by a bank of massive windows that had a view of most of the lot. He smiled and thrust a 'People' magazine into my hands as he picked up a 'Game and Fish'. We sat in silence as we thumbed through our magazines and waited.

About ten minutes later a short, balding, middle aged man slithered out to us. He was wearing a hunter green polyester suit with an off white shirt and worn looking brown (leather?) shoes. He looked like a stereotypical car salesman. He walked right up to Eric completely ignoring my presence and introduced himself, "How ya doing there Mr. Northman?" Eric took the man's sweaty looking extended hand into his own and shook it, trying to hide his grossed out face. Apparently I was spot on with his hand being sweaty.

"We're doing well. Do you still have that car I wanted to look at? It's for my wife, so sell it to her not me."

Mr. Sweaty hands turned to me giving me the creepiest smile I have ever seen and said, "Well alright there little lady, let's go look at your new car." I forced a smile and took Eric's hand in my own. Angry at him or not this guy gives me the heebie jeebies and I don't want Eric to go far. We followed him onto the lot and started to weave in and out of rows of cars. Before I knew it we were coming up on some Mini Coopers and we slowed our pace. I realized in that moment that I really owed Eric an apology. He picked out my dream car without me having ever mentioned it to him.

"Here we are, just like you asked. We can have it painted the pink she chooses by next week; if it turns out this is the one she wants." He extended his hand in a sweeping motion towards the car like he was Vanna White. I turned to Eric who had a very smug look pasted onto his face.

All I could do was squeeze his hand and say, "I am so sorry."

His smug expression only grew smugger as he said, "Yeah, I knew you would be." He opened the driver side door and ushered me in. I sat down gazing upon the glory that is the Mini Cooper. I couldn't help but let out an excited squeal as I took it all in.

I leaned out the door, looking at Eric who was gloating and asked, "Can we have the seats redone in white also?"

He smiled at me indulgently before he turned to Sweaty Sully and asked, "Is that something you guys can handle?" Sweaty Sully just nodded and started rattling off prices and details that I was not particularly interested in so I zoned out. I thought about how big of an apology I owed to Eric and what I can do to make this up to him.

I was brought out of my revelry when Eric kneeled down next to me and asked, "Are you ready to pick your paint color?" I nodded and clutched the steering wheel.

He stood up, but a moment later bent back down and said, "Honey, you're going to have to get out of the car and come with us over to the shop to look at the paint chips." I let out an embarrassed laugh accepting his hand to help me out of the car. Before we started walking I asked Sweaty Sully if I could talk to Eric for a moment that we would meet him over there. He nodded hesitantly and started walking in the direction of the shop.

I pulled him into an embrace, holding him flush to my body and said, "Eric, this is perfect… and I'm a bitch. How did you know? I mean this is my dream car all the way down to the color!"

He smiled at me, leaned down kissing my forehead and said, "I was sitting at my computer looking at cars for you and I thought to myself '_If Sookie was a car, what kind of car would she be?' _thinking about it for a moment I came up with the Mini Cooper; tiny, compact, zippy, stylish and sassy."

I giggled looking up into his big blue eyes and asked, "Is this how you pick all your cars?"

He nodded and said, "Yes, if I was a car I would be a Bronco. I also picked Pam's car with that same principal."

I pursed my lips nodding and said, "Pam is totally a SAAB." He chuckled and I agreed. I disentangled myself from him grabbing his hand tugging him in the direction of the body shop so I could pick my paint.

He laughed and said, "My, my aren't you eager."

I pulled harder on his arm and said, "Yes I am. I have big plans to make it up to you for me being such a bitch earlier. I should have known you would never get me something I would hate… I really am sorry." He stopped moving and I lurched forward and almost fell when I could no longer get him to move. I looked back at him questioningly. He pulled me back to him wrapping my in an overly tight embrace.

Looking into my eyes he said, "Sookie its fine, if I didn't enjoy watching you catch a 'tude with me then I would have told you what I was up to. I love you, now let's go get you paint color picked so you can tell me all about your big plans to pay your penance for being such a jerk." He winked at me and laughed as we continued towards the doors.

I poured over all of the choices of pink that they offered. I had narrowed it down to two different pinks, but I was having a hard time choosing. One was a pale pearly pink, and the other was more like a glittery hot pink. I was getting frustrated that I couldn't choose until I finally was bouncing, making whiny noises in my chair until Eric came back in, and sat down next to me.

He said, "Hey, how are you doing? I got everything all paid for so it's your car as soon as they finish with it."

I turned to him waggling the samples and said, "Baby, I can't choose!"

He chuckled grabbing the pale pearly pink and said, "This is the one, it screams SOOKIE!"

I laughed and agreed with him and said, "See this is why I keep you around, just to make all the tough decisions."

He laughed handing my choice to the guy who was filling out the paper work and said to me, "Well I'm glad I could be useful for something." I gave him a smarmy look and he just shook his head laughing. He signed the last of the paperwork and shook hands with the far less creepy men from the body shop as we left. We got back to the Bronco and Eric opened my door for me. I got in and leaned over to flip the lock on his door like I always do. Eric said electric locks on the Bronco would ruin the effect so this has just become a welcome habit for us. Eric slid in and started the car up.

We were on the road for just a minute or two before Eric said, "So the 'Setting Sookie's old car on fire' party will be next weekend. I figured we could make it an event since Amelia will have the baby soon and we probably shouldn't have setting stuff on fire parties with little kids running around." I laughed and looked at him. He was looking straight on out the windshield, but I could see happiness absolutely bursting from him even just from his profile.

"It sounds like fun." I paused for a moment thinking over what he had said and then asked with curiosity lacing my voice. "Are you saying that when we have a baby you are going to stop setting things on fire?"

He laughed and said, "Umm, no." He grabbed my hand before continuing. "Our childen will have both a love and healthy respect for the flame, just like their Daddy. I just don't want to be held responsible for any bone head thing someone else's kid may do after watching me. I became a firefighter so that I could safely play with fire… safely is the key word. I have the training to tame the flame. I feel confident that our children, after spending lots of time with me as their Daddy, will also be able to tame the flame."

I laughed, holding his hand as he drove and I said, "Honey, Pam told me about what a pyro you were as a kid."

He chuckled with a nervous lilt and said, "Yes and instead of becoming an arsonist I became a firefighter. I have chosen to use my powers for the flame for good and not evil." We were cracking up all the way home. When we finally got home I was looking forward to making it up to my loving husband all weekend. I really am spoiled. Maybe all this 'making it up' will finally bear the fruits of the baby that they so desperately want.


	8. Chapter 8

**Present Day**

Three days… three days since they stopped the coma and took him off the ventilator. Three days and he still hasn't woken up. I haven't exactly been on my best behavior over the last few days. Even Pam has shied away and she usually visits every day. I do nothing but eat, pee, talk to and try to nuzzle Eric awake; yet still nothing. He is breathing on his own. He has lots and lots of brain activity, but he hasn't opened his eyes.

I was kissing on his neck and face telling him how much I love him and need him, begging him to wake up when I decided to take a pee break. I gingerly climbed off the bed and waddled into the bathroom to do my business. I finished and washed my hands. I was walking out and turned to toss the paper towel into the trash when I heard a very welcome, very familiar deep voice… it was a little scratchy but it was his.

"Lover, you've gotten so big." I spun around almost falling over because I have an awkward center of balance from being pregnant and I rushed to him. I immediately burst into tears and gently clung to him, trying not to hurt him, but still wanting to be as close as possible. I was hysterical and mumbling all sorts of incoherent ramblings when Eric lifted his left hand to my face and placed a finger over my lips silencing my words tugging a little to guide me to his lips. The kiss was soft but it was hands down the best kiss he has ever given me.

I finally pulled back and he groaned out, "Can I have a drink?" I sat straight up and poured some water into a cup adding a straw.

I brought it to his lips as I said, "Oh baby, I am so sorry I should have known how thirsty you would be when you woke up. I love you. You know that right."

He smiled around the straw as he drew in the last that the little cup had to offer and said, "Of course I know that, you have been saying it every 5 minutes for the last month. Can I have more?"

He indicated to the cup and I nodded while asking, "You could hear me the whole time?"

He gave a sad chuckle and said, "I was in and out, but I remember what happened to get me here. I know you have not left the hospital or this room since I was brought up here. I also heard you yell at my sister for breathing to loud yesterday. I have to say, I have never seen nor heard Pam cower at anyone's words, but you seem to have struck the fear of God into her." He chuckled at the last part and so did I.

"Why didn't you wake up sooner?" I asked.

"I tried believe me. It was like being trapped in a room where you can hear everything around you and you're screaming but no one can hear you. The only thing that brought me any peace was when you were touching me, which you did a lot. I appreciate that." I shook my head as silent tears rolled down my face. I pushed the call button and Felicia walked in to see what I needed. She saw Eric was awake and smiled running straight down the hall to get the doctor.

Amelia ran in clutching her pregnant stomach with her phone stuck to her ear. I just lay next to Eric who had his good arm weakly wrapped around me while I absently traced patterns on his skin as the room started to fill with people. Amelia was obviously on the phone with Pam who I could hear screaming through the phone on the other side of the room. Tray and Alcide burst in next both speaking at once. Eric's eyes still haven't left mine as his arm curves around my waist to rub the side on my now very large belly. Dr. Compton and Dr. Ludwig ran in together only adding to the noise factor. Lafayette and Sam were the next to join the party before what seemed like the rest of the fire house entered the room only to be bowled over by Pam, who was the only person that Eric had directed his attention away from me for since this whole thing started.

Dr. Compton finally got some order to the room about twenty-five minutes later. Originally he tried to order everyone out, but that only made things worse. So now the rooms' perimeter is holding twenty-five nurses, firefighters, doctors and siblings who were now being silent until being given the green light to talk after the exam. I however got to stay in bed next to him while they examined him, mostly because people are pretty afraid of me ever since a few weeks ago when I tried to stab an orderly with a plastic fork for getting to close to my baby bump.

They checked his eyes, nose and throat; he has feeling in all four limbs, his memory both short term and long is perfect. Accept for all of the broken bones, burns and surgical wounds he is in essence fine. They even think he will make a full recovery and be able to go back to work if that's what he wants. I was ecstatic with the news. Finally they were done and told us they were going to keep him another week or two to make sure everything goes well; then he can come home! People came and spoke to Eric and I filtering out of the room little by little until it was just us again.

I rested on my side while he absently rubbed my stomach and stared at the ceiling before he said, "I think it's a boy." His thought caught me off guard.

"Really?"

He turned his head to look at me and smiled before saying, "Yup, I'm ninety percent sure it's a boy."

I smiled while scooting as close as I could safely get to him and asked, "What should we name him?"

Eric smirked at me and said, "Hmm, how about…."

**1 Year Ago**

We have been abstaining from birth control for the last year and no children have resulted from our efforts yet. I know we have not been actively "trying" to get pregnant but every month when I get my period I can't help but feel disappointed. My feelings of despair regarding my empty uterus are only getting worse since Amelia and Tray had their son Chad. So here I am sitting in the shower crying at four a.m. after waking up to pee and seeing that I got my period, AGAIN! I guess my sobs were not as silent as I would have hoped because I heard Eric come in.

Pulling the shower curtain back Eric knelt next to the tub pulling me into an embrace that was soaking him before he asked, "Did you get your period?"

I just nodded and cried, "Why aren't we pregnant yet?" He turned off the water before grabbing a towel, wrapping it around me and lifting me out of the tub.

Setting me onto the counter he said, "I don't know. Do you want to go see a fertility doctor?" I shrugged; I really didn't know what I wanted to do. I felt like right now we still had hope, but I worried that if we went to a fertility expert and it turned out that we can't have children that I would be crushed.

Eric silently dried my hair and body. Then he left the room before coming back with a new night shirt and fresh panties. He pulled a tampon out from under the sink and kissed me before he left to let me handle that one on my own. I emerged from the room and he was sitting on the edge of the bed with a bag in his hands. I took a seat next to him and looked into the bag. Inside was a selection of what to expect books, an ovulation monitor, a giant bottle of prenatal vitamins, digital pregnancy tests and two gender neutral onesies that said 'I love my Mommy' and 'I love my Daddy'. I turned to him with a confused look.

He took my hand in his, and said, "I made this kit a few months ago and I have been saving it for when I thought we were ready to get really serious about this."

I smirked a little, that's just like Eric to be excessively pragmatic and prepared so I asked, "Why didn't you tell me when you made it?"

He looked a little guilty and said, "I thought if I approached you, wanting to take a more active approach to this, that you might think I was blaming you or thinking that it's your fault or something." He quickly caught my eye and his voice took an urgent tone as he continued. "I don't think this is your fault at all, it's just I'm tired of waiting and I am more than willing to get my hands dirty for the cause."

He leered at me with a wink and I rolled my eyes and said, "I'm sure you are." We both laughed and he leaned us back on the bed so our legs were hanging off, but his arms were wrapped around my body.

We laid there for a while before he said, "You could let me do the hard part right now if you want."

I let out a loud laugh that shook us both and said, "Eric, I'm on my period… you handed me a tampon 45 minutes ago."

He looked sullen and said, "I wasn't trying to be an ass; I literally got so excited about cracking out my baby making kit that I completely forgot." I laughed as he dragged me back up the bed and tucked me under the covers before taking his place next to me. We laid and cuddled until I got tired and was about to fall back to sleep, but Eric nudged me, "Sookie, I love you, but this is Louisiana in August and I am never going to fall asleep with you on top of me making me sweat. We can cuddle sleep to your heart's content in the winter but for now…"he gently lifted me as I laughed and laid me next to him on my own pillow and gave me a kiss. I settled in and watched him roll onto his stomach and kick off all of the sheets sprawling out and almost instantly starting to snore. I rolled over to my side and giggled a little as Eric was practically doing the Heisman trophy pose to keep me on my side. I love that man but he hates to be touched while he sleeps in the summer and I have a hard time keeping him off of me in the winter, if I ever have a question about the season I just have to watch how Eric is sleeping.

_If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends, takin is too easy but that's the way it is_

I groaned while looking over at Eric who now looked like the vitruvian man all spread out on the bed. I knew by the obnoxious nineties pop pouring from his phone meant that Tray or Amelia were calling, but Eric was not budging. I swear that man could sleep through a bomb. I kicked him a little and he groaned. I did it again and said, "Eric, pick up your phone." He whined and shoved his face into his pillow.

I finally pinched him and he groaned, "Fine, I'm getting it." He grabbed the phone and snapped into it. "What?" I could only hear one side, but after I took a look at the clock I knew exactly what the issue was. "Naw man, I just overslept." I stood up to pull on some clothes and I tossed some on the bed for Eric also. "Ya we'll be there in thirty minutes or so." He sat up rubbing his face. "Okay we'll grab it on the way over. See you then." I came out of the bathroom with my tooth brush in mouth just as he was tossing the phone on the bed and grabbing the pants I set out for him. I looked at him with questioning eyes as I continued to brush my teeth and not drip toothpaste on myself or the carpet. He stood up and languidly stretched like I giant house cat and said. "We over slept and they started without us."

I looked at him excitedly and mumbled with my mouth full of tooth paste, "Did they do all the heavy stuff already?"

He chuckled and tossed on his tank and sat to apply his socks before saying, "I doubt it; you know how lazy Tray can get." I let out a muffled curse realizing despite my best efforts I still slopped toothpaste all over myself. Eric laughed as I ran back to the bathroom to spit, rinse and change my shirt again. When I came back out with fresh shirt part two in hand Eric was just tying his shoes.

I sat next to him with my own and started to put them on and said, "Remind me how much moving sucks if I ever suggest it."

He nodded and flopped back on the bed saying, "Sookie, we're never moving. This place is massive and paid for, it would make no sense."

I finished up with my shoes and stood tugging on his legs to get him to move while I said, "Well you have excellent taste in real estate. We were lucky enough to be able to skip that whole silly lets buy a house and move all of our shit into it phase because you purchased the dream house before I even met you."

He finally stood up and grabbed the keys off of the dresser ushering me out of the room while saying is a silky sweet voice, "Well I bought it so when I met my queen I would have a castle to offer her."

I laughed so hard I almost fell down the stairs and said, "Oh my gosh, that is one of the worst lines I have ever heard. I already married you; you don't have to put on the cheese anymore."

He put his hand over his heart and feigned being wounded before saying, "Oh my sweet, sweet Sookie are you saying you don't like my chivalrous confessions of love?"

I laughed and walked over to the car waiting for him to open my door before saying, "No I like it, I just don't think you have to try so hard anymore. I'm a sure thing now." He opened my door and was bent over laughing next to the door leaning on the car frame for support. I smiled at him and climbed in. He finally pulled himself together enough to be able to walk around the car and get in. He was wiping tears of laughter from his eyes when he turned the car on and pulled out.

We were a few miles down the road before he said, "You know my life would be absolutely no fun without you."

I looked at him and took his hand before saying, "I'm glad that I'm a better alternative than a hoard of cats."

He laughed while squeezing my hand and said, "Definitly better." We drove in silence for a while before he finally said, "You know, I have no idea where people got the whole hoard of cat's idea from. I have never owned a cat."

I leaned my head over to look at him and said, "Maybe you were just throwing off cat lady vibes, like it might have happened if no one intervened?"

He chuckled lightly shaking his head before he said, "Maybe that's the case. Before you, I guess, I was less than a year away from opening a drawer in the kitchen and having ten cats pour out while I get a spoon for my lucky charms that came out of a box covered in claw marks." We laughed again as we pulled up to Amelia and Trays house. I wasn't even out of the car before Sam and Alcide already had the back of the Bronco open and were shoving boxes in. I got out and walked into the house to find Amelia. I walked past a weighted down Eric who just had a huge box shoved in his hands before he even set foot inside. I found Amelia holding Chad and barking out orders in the living room. I walked up and took Chad from her arms while she made most of the firehouse quiver at her feet.

"You be careful with that! My wedding china is in there and if there is even a chip on one finger bowl I will personally hunt you down!" I looked at Amelia with amusement while I cooed over Chad.

She turned to me instantly softening her expression and shooting me a million watt smile before saying, "Oh hey Sookie! Help me direct traffic." I nodded and kissed on the baby some more. Chad was a very happy child. Unless he had a load in his pants, he rarely cried. Amelia seemed to finally get everything under control and finally flopped next to me on the floor while saying, "How are you doin'?"

I shrugged and said, "I got my period again."

She gave me a sad sympathetic look and patted my knee before saying, "It will happen when you least expect it."

I nodded fighting back tears. "Eric and I are really going to start trying now instead of just not using birth control while secretly hoping and praying that I get pregnant each month."

She nodded and leaned over stroking Chad's back while she said, "Well you know that Chad is a result of the antibiotics I took for strep throat. So when it's meant to happen it will happen whether you're ready or not." I nodded, hopping that it is meant to happen sooner than later.

We sat in the middle of the empty living room together laughing while she barked orders. I eventually laid flat on my back and rested Chad on my chest while he slept; it made me want one for me and Eric even more. I was playing with his soft tiny little baby feet when Alcide flopped between Amelia and I and asked, "When are you and Eric gonna make one?" He inclined his head to the sleeping child on my chest. I could feel a tightening in my chest, this was neither the time nor the place to start crying, but like the oblivious fool that he is Alcide pressed on. "I bet you two will make really cute babies."

My lip started to quiver and my throat was closing. I gingerly sat up handing Chad to a sympathetic looking Amelia. Letting out one loud sob before I ran into the bathroom, shutting and locking the door so I could have another good cry. I was only in there for a few moments when I heard a soft knock on the door. I however ignored it, I was in no mood to explain myself to Alcide. He would just have to wait.

But the knock happened again, slightly louder this time and followed by a very familiar welcomed voice saying, "Sookie, can you let me in? I explained to Alcide and he agreed not to bring it up again or try to apologize to you. For what it's worth he is sorry." I smiled a little; Eric always knows what I need. I slid away from the door and leaned up to flip the lock. I saw Eric gently open the door and slide into the tiny half bath that I was holding up in. He shut the door and secured the lock again before taking a seat next to me and placing his arm around my body. We sat in silence for a few minutes while I just allowed the comfort I felt from Eric to just wash over me.

I was finally about to say something but Eric spoke first. "You know, I'm sure there is nothing wrong. We really haven't been trying, we just stopped being careful." I nodded knowing that I was jumping the gun on the infertility boat. We just needed to calm down about this… it is unlikely that I will calm down, but I like to imagine that I could if I wanted to.

"I know. I guess I had it in my mind that I would toss out the pills and be pregnant the next day."

He seemed to cringe a little, but quickly schooled his features and pulled me a little closer before whispering, "Me too, I guess."

I grabbed his hand off of the ground, intertwining my fingers with his before saying, "Let's get back out there; I am sure there is a stack of heavy stuff waiting for you."

He stood up pulling me with him and said, "I don't know what the issue is. I mean it's not like everyone's arms are broken; yet everything that is heavy and cumbersome seems to get tossed at me. Clancy got to carry a box of pillows while I carried a TV."

I laughed and brushed my pants off and wiped my face before saying, "Maybe that's because Clancy can't be trusted with anything other than decorative pillows that don't really serve a purpose in the first place."

He laughed and led me out saying, "Damn me being so trust worthy and dependable. Maybe I will break something just to prove a point." I laughed as we joined the others. Other than a few looks right after we got back no one mentioned 'The Incident' for the rest of the day. Eric and I went home that night exhausted, but we still found the energy to pour over some of the baby books. We talked and laughed a little Eric kept saying over and over "I have a really good feeling about this." I really hope his good feeling pans out.


	9. Chapter 9

**Present Day**

"Eric, what were you expecting? You fell through a house… THROUGH A HOUSE!" I yelled the last part at my knuckle head husband.

"Sookie, I was not expecting to fall through a house. I should be able to care for my wife, now more so especially!" He tossed his head back onto the pillow. He is feeling really guilty because I tripped on my way out of the bathroom today and I couldn't get up on my own. He wanted to help me but he had to push the call button and he was seething when Amelia called Tray to pick me up and get me back into bed. I know he is not mad at _me_ rather than he is just mad at the situation.

"Eric, I'm fine. The baby is fine, we will be fine. You seem to have forgotten last week you were in a coma and I didn't know if you were going to live or die." He turned his head and huffed, I could see him fidgeting with his good hand before I continued. "It is also not your fault that I was like a flipped over turtle when I fell. Even I didn't see that coming."

He turned his head back to me and I saw a sly smile before he said, "If I wasn't so frustrated that I couldn't help you I would have laughed."

I nodded my head and climbed onto the bed before I said, "Frustrated or not, I'm surprised you didn't." He rolled his eyes and took my hand. I grabbed the remote and asked, "What do you want to watch?"

I was flipping through the channels when he exclaimed, "OOH OOH, stop here." ESPN what a surprise, I know he has been through a trauma, but I have to put up a little fight.

"Eric, this is a Bears game from the 80's do you need to watch it again?"

He sighed and looked at me with pleading eyes and said, "But Sookie, it's a classic!"

I growled before conceding. "Fine." We sat and watched for a while before I started feeling uncomfortable, I couldn't quite put my finger on it so I pushed it away for the moment. I was able to keep it at the back of my mind until I felt a rush of warm liquid flow out of me and I did not pee the bed. My eyes went wide as I looked down at the wet sheets. The moisture made its way to Eric before I was able to get over my shock.

He looked at me and asked with laughter in his voice, "Sookie, did you just wet the bed?"

I turned my eyes to his and whispered, "No."

It seemed to take him a moment to catch on because he looked at me confused before he said, "Oh Shit." Oh shit is right.

**8 Months and 2 Weeks Earlier**

"Sookie, take a day off! You almost vomited on a patient." I rolled my eyes.

"Amelia I feel fine, the smell of that fruit punch just got to me."

She cocked a hip while narrowing her eyes at me before saying, "I'm not trying to be a bitch and I know you and Eric have been keeping the fact that you're trying quiet, but are you pregnant?" I let out a sigh; we had been trying and no success. I really doubt I'm pregnant and the thought of taking one more pregnancy test just for it to show up negative just does not sound like my version of a good lunch break.

"I don't think I'm pregnant, Amelia."

She nodded insincerely and asked, "Can we at least run a blood panel on you just in case you are sick? The last thing we need is something passing around the staff." I nodded, and she shot up to go get the supplies to do a blood draw.

"Got it!" She yelled as she burst back into the break room. She took my blood and covered the little puncture wound with a bob the builder band-aid from pediatrics. Oh Amelia always the joker. I thanked her and she replied, "Why don't you walk over to the firehouse and take a nap in Eric's bed until we get the results back, you know just in case." I sighed, but said okay. She was right, if I am sick the last thing we need is me passing it around. The memory of the Great Strep outbreak of 2008 was still all too fresh in our minds.

I walked over to the firehouse and greeted the guys as I walked upstairs. I walked down the little row of beds until I got to Eric's; his was the second to last and has the newest mattress. His feet hung off the edge, but it was just the right size for me. I felt kind of like Goldie Locks when I thought that. I pulled off my shoes and scrub top, leaving me in just a tank top, scrub bottoms and my socks that said 'Princess' on the toes and had little sparkling crowns all over. They were a gift from Pam, she bought them in the children's section to mock my tiny feet, and little did she know that they would become my favorites. I was only in bed for about ten minutes before Eric came up to see me.

He kneeled beside me and asked, "Lover, are you feeling okay?" I nodded and explained about my earlier display of gastro intestinal pyrotechnics. He laughed when I told him that it barely missed the patient.

"So Amelia told me to come lay down until she gets the results back just in case. I feel better now, so I'm sure I'm fine."

Eric nodded and kissed my head before saying, "I have to get back to work, but let me know if you need anything okay." I nodded and gave him a smile. I watched him wave to me as he slid down the poll to the ground level. He tried to get me to slide down the poll once, but I just whimpered and held on so tight that I stopped at the top of the poll and he had to get the ladder to get me down because I refused to loosen my grip, twenty feet up or not I felt like I was going to plummet to my death. Ever since then he hasn't bothered me about using the stairs. The story does however get retold at almost every get together anyone has… not my finest moment. I closed my eyes and realize just how tired I was. The next time I opened my eyes, Eric, Sam, Tray, Amelia, Pam, Clancy, Alcide and the new guy Terry were all staring at me with wide eyes.

Eric knelt by me again brushing the hair from my face and said, "How are you feeling, Lover?"

Before I could even open my moth to answer, Amelia shouted, "SOOKIE YOU'RE PREGNAT!"

Eric growled while snapping his head towards her barking in a tone that made everyone in the room take a step or two back. "Damn it Amelia that was MY news to give to MY wife." He let out an exasperated sigh and sat cross legged on the floor resting his head in his hands. I sat up to look at Amelia. She looked really guilty and I was happy that I was pregnant but I was pretty pissed that she stole the wind out of Eric's sails. Every set of eyes in the room were set on her and Pam looked like she could kill. Thankfully Tray muttered a "congratulations" and ushered his loose lipped wife out of the room before someone took an opportunity to strike her.

I looked back at Eric who was in full sulking mode and I asked, "Hey guys can you give me a minute alone with Eric?" They all nodded and muttered an affirmative answer. I got up and took a seat on the floor between the two beds next Eric and said, "I'm sorry she stole your thunder."

He made a sad sound and said, "I had big plans. I was going to hint around it and throw you off the trail before I was all like 'oh and by the way we're going to have a baby' It was going to be awesome." I chuckled a little and Eric looked at me with a furrowed brow and forlorn puppy dog eyes. I lifted his arm and put it around me before tilting my head at an awkward angle to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry sweetie; I know how much you hate having to alter plans." He scoffed, and stood pulling me with him.

He sat me on the edge of the bed and took a seat next to me placing a hand on my stomach and saying, "It doesn't feel real yet. It feels like were still trying with no luck." I nodded, I understood the feeling. I placed my hand over his and tried to feel pregnant, but I couldn't. I still felt normal and I'm not showing yet so it is still all very surreal.

"How can we make it feel more real?" I asked, I saw him cock his head before a smile lit up on his face.

"Do you want to start parking in the expectant parent parking spot when we go to the grocery store?"

I laughed shaking my head and said, "That's a good idea, but I was thinking more along the lines of cleaning out a guest room and start calling it the baby's room. Maybe even going and buying a crib to stick in there so we can look at to remind us it's real."

He laughed and said, "Good thinking, this is a big picture type of situation."

I laughed and said, "Yeah I think you were thinking pretty small scale." We chuckled a little more, but soon fell silent and just sat together with our hands resting on my stomach.

About an hour later of just sitting still and being consumed by our own thoughts Eric finally said, "We're going to have a baby."

I nodded my head and said, "Yup."

"We're going to have a little boy or girl to carry the Northman name."

"Yup." I replied.

"Our baby is cooking in there right now."

Again I nodded my head and said, "Yup." I don't know why he keeps asking the same question over and over just rephrased like somehow the answer will change.

"Shit Sookie!" He looked alarmed and continued. "Were finally going to have our own baby." He looked at me with huge eyes. He looked like a little boy who just got the okay to play in the mud in his Sunday clothes. Then it hit me… it finally sunk in.

"Our baby." I whispered, placing my other hand on my stomach also.

"This is real?" He asked. I nodded and started crying the happiest tears of my life.

"Oh my gosh this is real!" He let out a breath he must have been holding and looked at me with total awe, his eyes were wide and the smile on his face stands unmatched from any I have ever seen on him before. I finally felt it, I feel like we're going to have a baby… this feels real! He jumped up dragging me with him and trudged us down the stairs.

We burst into the kitchen with Eric picking me up under my arm holding me up in front him like he was on an awards podium and I was a trophy. He exclaimed, "We're gonna have a baby!" There were hoots and holler filled with words of praise and congratulations. Eric finally put me down but still held me firmly to him. I could see that he was absolutely bursting with pride and I couldn't help but feel the same, I am finally going to have a baby with the man that I love more than anything. I mean sure, sometimes I want to strangle him, but I still love him the most.

Amelia came over a while later, I had seen her sitting in the corner looking guilty, but I let her sit and stew. I was a little miffed at her still, but nowhere near as bad as Eric he still needed more time to cool off. When she approached us we were sitting on a chair together most of the guys had gone up to sleep and I would need to go home soon Eric will be on his off days starting tomorrow.

"Hey Sookie do you want a ride home?" She asked, I could tell that she was feeling awful and was just trying to think of some way to make it up. I was about to tell her no thanks because I didn't want to not have a ride back in the morning but Eric cut me off.

"That would be great Amelia. That way you and Sookie can talk about her baby shower maybe have that girly sleepover you have been bugging me and Tray about?" I was pleased with how nice he was being.

This was as close to an 'I forgive you' as she will ever get from Eric and I think she knows that, because she says, "That is a great idea, I'm just going to grab my purse. I'll meet ya outside Sookie."

I wave to her and return my gaze to Eric and kiss him before saying, "Thank you for forgiving her."

He huffed and said, "If I wasn't in such a good mood I wouldn't have, but it is hard to plot vengeance with a baby on the way."

I laughed while I got up and gathered my purse and said, "Vengeance?"

His face went completely serious as he said, "Yes vengeance. She took something I can never get back and my pleasure over the situation is the only thing that has saved her from having every toilet seat she ever sits on again saran wrapped."

I snickered and said, "Oh you are evil." I smiled and he gave me a chaste kiss before walking me to the door.

"I know I am, this is why generally people don't mess with me."

I schooled my features and solemnly agreed with him before saying, "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

He kissed me again and said, "That's affirmative." I laughed, he is such a nerd.

"Until then."

"Until then my lady." And with that he opened the door and gave an exaggerated bow with a flourish of his hand before kissing me and my stomach. I left him at the firehouse that night absolutely bursting with excitement. I couldn't wait to start preparations for our baby.


	10. Chapter 10

**Present Day**

"Sookie, knock it off right now!" Eric exclaimed in a high pitched voice.

I snapped my head to him and hissed, "Oh yes Eric, just let me ring the amniotic fluid out of these sheets and shove it back up my who-ha!"

He continued to freak out and started chanting, "No, the baby is not due for three weeks." Over and over; I know this has been tough on Eric but I need him to pull it together.

"Eric, push the call button."

He shook his head again and said, "No the baby still has three weeks to cook."

I rolled my eyes and growled, "It's fine, just push the damn call button!"

Before he could Amelia bounced in and said, "I heard raised voices, lovers spat?"

She winked and paused in front of the bed taking in the scene and I said to her, "My water broke."

She was giddy and started to clap her hands, but Eric chimed in, "No it didn't."

Amelia shut him right down and said, "Oh yes it did, get out of denial!" Amelia made a call to I assume Dr. Ludwig and started to tend to Eric who was panicking. "Eric calm down, this isn't like you!" She rubbed his arm before helping me get out of the bed and into a hospital gown..

By the time we are done Eric seems to have come to terms with what is happening and said, "I thought I had three more weeks."

I sighed shifting in the chair Amelia had deposited me in so that she could change the sheets and said, "Yes well, the baby had other ideas. Count your blessings at least your awake for the birth." I choked out the last part a little. I have to say after the last few weeks that had been my biggest fear; that I would go into labor and Eric would still be in a coma.

He reached his casted arm and fingers out to me and said, "I'm so sorry Sookie. I love you so much and tonight we're going to become parents. I need to call my sister." Eric was about to reach for his phone when Amelia snatched it out of his hand. He growled, "Hey!" At her.

She just giggled and said, "I already activated the phone tree, everyone should know by now."

We both looked at her confused and I inquired, "Phone Tree?"

She was beaming and said, "Yup, a few weeks ago right after Eric's…." She paused and tried to think of how to word it. "Accident we decided that we needed to have a system to let people know if you went into labor because you would be too hysterical to call people with Eric unconscious. So we set it up and it worked really well even after Eric woke up!"

I smiled and nodded. Eric still looked skeptical and asked, "So my sister is on her way here, right?"

Amelia nodded and said, "Yes Sir, she will be kicking down doors to get to you any minute. How are the contractions Sookie?"

I shrugged and said, "Tolerable so far." She nodded and hooked me up to a fetal heart monitor. She watched it for a few moments and her face went like stone and I couldn't get a read on her.

She just said, "Sit tight for one minute; I'm going to go find Dr. Ludwig." I felt confused so I took a look at the monitor… the baby was in distress. The next thing I knew the room was filled with people. The bed I had shoved next to Eric's was pulled away from him, and I was lifted onto the bed. I was so overwhelmed by everything that was happening the only words I recognized were "Emergency C-section" I was being wheeled out of the room and the last thing I saw was a helpless looking Eric looking ridged in the bed with tears streaming down his face.

"Eric?" I whispered, and then everything went black.

**6 months earlier**

"I will not have any niece or nephew of mine wearing clothes from Wal-Mart." I rolled my eyes at Pam. I loved her like a sister, but sometimes I have no idea how she and Eric could be related because she could be such a snob!

"Pam, I am not going to spend tons of money on baby clothes that are going to get stained, ruined, and outgrown before they can be worn a third time; Cheap is the way to go for small children." Pam looked to Eric for help, but I knew she wouldn't get it from him. I knew for a fact that he agreed with me on this. My theory was confirmed when he stared at the instructions to build the crib like they held the answer to all of life's questions.

Pam finally stopped trying to give Eric a stare down and put her attention back on me, "Your child will chafe. It is a scientific fact that cheap clothing will give the baby a rash." I heard Eric snicker while studying the screws and bolts that would hold the crib together.

"That is not a scientific fact." I said with a serious face.

"Yes it is. I am a fashion expert and as the expert I can state the facts."

I threw my hands up in the air and yelled, "Is this freaking for real, Pam?" Eric fell back onto the floor with peals of laughter. I looked at him annoyed and Pam looked positively enraged. I walked over to the corner of the room and flopped into the little gliding rocker we had bought a few weeks ago waiting for Eric to get himself under control.

After about five minutes he did and finally said, "Pam, you're an idiot." She looked completely abashed, but he continued. "Having a shopping addiction does not make you a fashion expert, it makes you broke."

She gasped and clutched her chest before saying, "I am not broke!"

Eric raised an eyebrow at her and smirked before saying, "How much is left in your trust?" She looked around the room but not at Eric who was now smiling like a cat that just caught the canary and continued. "How many years have you been saving money so you can move out of the guest house?"

She looked at him smugly and said, "I have been looking, but it is hard to find a place with enough closet space."

Eric sighed and pulled Pam into a hug saying, "Pam I'm not an idiot. Your whole house is one giant closet. You keep sweaters in your oven and you have racks of clothes in the living room. I am also aware that you eat our food and steal our toilet paper. I have come to terms with the fact that you're never going to move out. In fact that has never bothered me. I just want you to admit that your love for fashion has bled your bank account dry." She struggled in his embrace, but he just held tighter and laughed at her futile attempts to get away.

After a few minutes of her struggling she finally yelled, "Fine! My shopping habits make my income harder to liquidate!"

Eric snickered and said, "Come now Pam, a dress is not an investment. In fact I am pretty sure that it loses its value once you wear it."

She finally sighed and whispered in a defeated tone, "High fashion clothing makes me broke."

Eric tipped his head down to hers and asked, "I'm sorry, what was that?" We all knew full well that he had heard her now he was just gloating.

"I said fashion makes me broke!" Pam yelled. Eric released her and she stumbled back from the unexpected release.

He smiled and said, "Now, can our baby where cheap clothing without you scowling?" She was sulking but nodded. I found the fact that she was sulking in the corner like a child hilarious and apparently so did Eric. He laughed but came and kneeled in front of me placing his hands on my very small, but now noticeable baby bump and asked, "What do you want for dinner Little One?" I had to laugh, but Eric shushed and said, "I can't hear the baby over your cackling."

I muttered, "Jerk."

But he just looked at me and smiled before saying, "The baby wants pizza."

I looked at him with narrowed eyes and asked, "How do you know what the baby wants?" I have to say pizza sounded really good and I'm pretty sure that is in fact what the baby wants, but I don't want to give him the satisfaction right now.

"I know what the baby wants because it is what Mommy wants. You have been staring at the phone for an hour and you only do that when you want pizza… you did that before you were pregnant also."

I rolled my eyes but I couldn't hide the smile as I said, "The baby wants extra cheese."

Eric looked back at me wounded clutching his phone and said, "I'm not an amateur Sookie; this is not my first rodeo." I laughed because it is true. I only had one food related breakdown so far and Eric has been on top of it ever since. He ordered the pizza; afterwards the three of us sat around the crib parts trying to figure it out. I'm pretty sure Pam and I could have had this done by now, but Eric kept slapping our hands away saying that "this was his job." I guess as long as it got done in the end it didn't matter. Eric was cursing at an Allen wrench when I heard the doorbell. I excused myself to go answer it assuming it was the pizza. When I got down there and opened the door I was surprised to find Tray and Amelia instead of dinner.

"Hey you two come on in!" I said as I stepped away from the door to let them in. Chad was tottering behind them. He was a very independent baby and he hated to be held, even if his short legs slowed his parents down they tried to indulge him as much as possible.

Tray gave me a hug and asked, "Is Eric home?"

I nodded and said, "He's upstairs in the baby room with Pam trying to build the crib." He thanked me and scooped up Chad who screeched until they made it to the top of the stairs and he was set down again. I turned back to Amelia who was smiling, but still looked a little haggard.

"What's up?" I asked as I walked with her back towards the stairs.

She was about to answer the question when I heard Eric yell, "You have got to be shitting me?"

I rolled my eyes and asked, "Did that reaction have anything to do with what you were about to say."

She sighed and said, "Yes, I'm pregnant again. Chad just turned one and I'm pregnant again!"

I pulled her into a hug and said, "Babies are a blessing."

She scowled at me and said, "Yes they are a blessing when they are more than twenty months apart!" I shrugged and went back upstairs where Eric was laughing while Tray had his face buried in his hands; thank God it looked like Pam was finishing up the crib before Eric could claim the instructions were wrong again. Amelia took a look around and said, "Oh my gosh this is my karma for stealing Eric's moment!" Eric stood up and gave her a hug, something he has not done since she stole his thunder. I guess now she is really forgiven.

"I think having two children under the age of two will teach you to never be loose lipped again." I had to laugh when he said that. The only reason he finally fully forgave her is because he feels like their even now.

Amelia did not feel like this was quite so funny and huffed, "At least I will have a friend to be pregnant with me this time." I squealed and clapped my hands. This was going to be so much more fun now that I could share it with someone else going through the same things as I am. Amelia turned to Pam and said, "Does this get you thinking about babies, Pam?"

She narrowed her eyes and got a disgusted look on her face and said, "No that is one of the perks of being a lesbian. My womb will live vicariously through Sookie and Eric." I smiled at Pam, she is going to make a great aunt.

Amelia looked confused and said, "You can still do artificial insemination." Pam and Eric tossed their heads back and laughed, I also had a good snicker at the thought of Pam caring for someone regularly other than herself. I mean really Eric is still taking care of her!

When she was finally able to calm down and whip the tears that had fallen from laughter she said, "I am a very selfish person. I love me the most." Amelia still looked confused and Eric tried to clear it up for her.

"Some women were born to be mothers and some are just destine to be the cool aunt. Pam is the latter of those. I love my sister, but she would be an awful mother. She had to have a cat when we were kids and she lost interest after about twenty minutes and forgot to feed it for two days until I took over taking care of it for her."

Amelia looked amused and horrified before asking, "Two day's?"

I laughed again and Eric said, "The cat was fine. Can you see now why Pam should not have kids?" Amelia nodded and looked slightly concerned as she looked over at Pam who was holding Chad on her lap.

Pam must have seen the look of horror on her face and said, "Calm down, I love children in small bursts." Amelia seemed to relax a little at that and took a seat on the floor right next to an amused looking Tray. Soon after that the pizza came and we sat on the floor eating and laughing. When we finished up Amelia, Pam and I took the trash downstairs. When we returned we found Tray and Eric working on the changing table. I looked at Pam horrified because it was half built and the instructions were still wrapped in plastic.

Pam simply giggled and pulled me in to a hug whispering in my ear, "Don't worry I will check it while he's not home." I gave her a grateful smile and muttered 'thank you' to her. We joined the guys and watched them struggle until they deemed it done.

I, however, took stock of the huge amount of unused parts and asked, "Umm guys, where does all this stuff go?"

Eric smiled and pulled me into a hug before saying, "Don't worry, they always send a ton of extras for stuff like this." He tapped the side of the changing table.

It shook a little rising my level of concern to new heights so I asked, "Were there lots of extra parts for the crib?" I knew Pam did most of the work on that one and she used the instructions so I knew it was done right.

"Umm, no there weren't." Pam said. "In fact it tells you in the instructions which parts will have extras." She giggled out. Eric shot her a dirty look and grabbed the instruction taking them out of the plastic and looking them over. He seemed to be in deep thought when he walked over to Tray and showed them to him.

Tray immediately removed Chad from the top of the table and Eric said, "We may need to take this apart and start over." Everyone erupted into laughter and Eric stuffed his hands into his pockets with a sheepish smile on his face. I pulled him down into a giggle laced kiss and shook my head. At least now we have a good story to tell our kids.


	11. Chapter 11

**Present Day**

"Sookie wake up." I heard someone talking to me in the distance, but I was just not in the mood to open my eyes. I am sore and the last thing I remember was my water breaking, then Amelia came in and then… OH SHIT! My eyes shot open in a flash and I was looking around in a panic. My breathing was heavy and the pain in my stomach was intense. When I finally took in my surroundings I was in a room with Eric, the two beds were once again pushed together and I was next to him. I also saw that he had a screaming baby lying on his chest with his good arm wrapped around it trying to sooth their tears.

After a few moments of cooing the baby steeled down and Eric said, "You woke him up with your freak out." I was about to snap at him over that comment, but I was taken back… HIM, we had a baby boy!

"Him?" I asked.

Eric smiled using his arm to lay the little blue bundle between us and said, "Yes him. Pam owes me five dollars. What should we name him? I have been calling him Thor for the last few hours, but I think he may have a hard time getting a job with that name."

I laughed and said, "Yeah that could be an issue in the long run. Now we have to pick a name; no more fighting, it's down to the wire."

He nodded and asked, "Aaron?"

I shook my head no and said, "I dated a guy in high school named Aaron. How about Steve?"

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Like Steve Urkel?" I cringed, seeing the obvious fault with that name.

"How about Eric?" Pam asked as she walked into the room holding a cup of coffee that probably cost eight dollars. I looked to Eric and he shrugged.

Raising his eyebrow to feel out how I felt about it and I said, "I like it. Hello baby is your name Eric?" He made a little gurgling noise that I took as the green light. I looked up at Big Eric and asked, "What about a middle name?"

"Thor?" he asked hopefully and I laughed… what could be the harm right?"

"Then it's settled Eric Thor Northman." We all smiled down at our new family member.

I was suddenly hit with the question, "What happened to him? Why did I need the emergency C-section?"

Pam cracked up in the corner and Eric pursed his lips trying to hold in his own laughter as he said, "Well my love, they thought he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck. But when they got in there they found out that he had it in his hand and was squeezing it."

I laughed while looking down at my son and said, "You are going to be just like your father!" Eric laughed and I picked up our son and laid him on my chest as I snuggled into Eric's side.

We were looking at our son when Eric said, "We have had a really good life together so far and this…" he indicated the three of us with his casted hand and continued. "Feels like a whole new chapter that might be better than the last." I smiled at my two favorite boys and thought. _This has been one hell of a ride with Eric, and I can't wait to see what comes next!_

_**FIN**_


	12. Epliogue EPOV

**E-POV**

**EPILOGUE**

I was holding the hand of my three year old son as we waited in line for him to see Santa again, because he apparently forgot something the last forty times we have been here. Our lives have changed a lot in the last three years, something's for the best some not so much, but it all got us to this point and for that I'm happy.

I never did get to go back to being a fire fighter; the damage to my leg was just too severe. I walked with a limp for a long time. I had to put up with countless old man and pirate jokes. It was hard on both Sookie and I when I couldn't pass the physical to go back to work forcing them to retire me out. It was my dream for a very long time and I was very distraught to see it go. I was moody and I would snap at everyone. I went on like this for months until Sookie walked into the den where I was holed up day after day.

Holding our son on her hip and a suitcase in her hand she said, "Eric I can't take this. When you're ready to be glad you're alive while enjoying me and your son, give me a call. " And with that she walked out of our house. Needless to say that scared the shit out of me. I tried to call her right away to get her to come straight home. She said she needed time to straighten herself out. I was filled with a sense of horror that my wife was going to leave me because I couldn't even be happy that I was alive. Instead I spent everyday brooding that I couldn't go back to a job that almost cost me my life and ability to see my family grow up.

I got off of my ass and spent the next week finding something to do with myself. What do I like? Easy fire, however being a closet pyromaniac has very few viable career choices. So I thought about what else I like, sports and beer. So what did I do? I went to see a financial planner so I could open a small sports bar. Sookie ignored my calls, but came home two weeks later when I finally had a plan and goals. She was happy to see me motivated and doing something again. I was just happy for her not to be divorcing me.

Sookie had long since quit her job at the hospital after Thor was born. We tried to call him Eric, but the confusion level was through the roof. So we use his middle name, which was my preferred first name. He was always huge for his age and always towered above Amelia and Tray's kids. Speaking of them, Amelia got pregnant two more times after their daughter Lela was born three months after Thor. Tray got snipped after she found out about this current pregnancy… twins. I think after having six kids in six years made him desperate to have his junk tied off. He must have some super sperm or something, because he got past the pill, the shot, and an IUD.

Thor took quite the shine to their youngest daughter Lela, they are the closet in age and I can really see where he takes after me. He has quite the possessive streak. He pushed another little boy off of the jungle gym when he tried to hug HIS Lela. Sookie said I needed to cut it out with the Sookie is MINE stuff after that. I didn't, I was just more careful about doing it in front of him. I think he is right in staking his claim early though; good women are hard to come by in this world.

Sookie and I spent a year together planning and getting the bar ready to open. We called it Thor's Hammer. It was cute and manly. We made sure to keep it a family environment for the most part, because we wanted Thor to be with us when we were there. It worked out pretty well and it gave Sookie a place to put all of Gran's recipes to good use.

Oh yeah, Gran lives with Pam in the guest house now. She had a mild heart attack and Sookie and I insisted she come live with us. She, however, refused to lose her independence, but was more than willing to be Pam's roommate. Those two are quite a pair. I had to go out to the guest house many times to have them keep it down; they even woke the baby up a few times with their all night ragers. Thor loves his Gran so much, she spoils him rotten. Over the years she has become less aggressive in her sexual advances towards me, but I still catch her leering from time to time. I have to say, she is not a bad looking old lady, and at least I know Sookie will hold up well.

Pam was right. She made an excellent, cool aunt making sure that Thor always had the nicest clothes to ruin. She now has our son steal her toilet paper and food for her. I once caught him dragging a giant bag of paper products and food around the house with a "shopping" list Pam obviously made for him with pictures of all the items since he can't read yet. It looked like an old timey ransom note.

When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I'm Auntie Pam's favorite minion. I'm doin' her bidding." I couldn't even be mad at that, it was too funny. When I told Sookie she laughed so hard she peed and that made me laugh even harder.

We still have the annual July third party every year except now there are a lot more kids and a lot less passing out drunk. I actually see the guys from the firehouse all the time still, considering fire and hospital personnel drink half off everyday in my bar. Not being able to be a fire fighter was not as bad as I was making it. In fact, I found that I felt so separate from them because I was keeping myself that way.

I was pulled out of my thoughts about the last three years when Sookie waddled up to me. She was seven months pregnant with our second son. This one was not planned like the first; in fact Sookie had no idea for the first five months. It was all very TLC's "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant". She is getting way bigger this time around though. I was surprised that she only has one baby in there, because she is bigger than Amelia who is housing two!

Sookie took my other hand and Thor reached across me to touch his mom's tummy asking, "Mama, will you sit on Santa's lap so my baby broter can get presents too?" He was so precious looking asking Sookie to do this. I knew how much she didn't want to; "Santa" was a really old man Beck in costume. He was a nice guy, but this was going to be awkward for Sookie if he manages to make her cave.

"It's okay, Santa will know. I don't have to sit on his lap, maybe I can just stand next to him?" Sookie said sweetly to him.

Thor just crossed his arms and said, "That is not how it works mama, you know that." I had to bite back a laugh, which earned me a scowl.

"I don't think so baby." She said placing her hand over his. I however saw the bomb getting ready to drop, I'm sure Sookie saw it also. His little lip started to quiver while his eyes welled up.

His voice went to a really low whisper when he asked his voice high and squeaking, "But what about my broter?" Little tears started to escape and he was making loud squeaky breaths. He wasn't screaming yet but it was about to happen. Sookie looked like she was about to cry as I picked him up and held him to me. Her hormones were off the charts this time. I stubbed my toe last week and she cried for my pain. She has happy tears, sad tears, hungry tears, the phone is ringing tears, sex tears…. Everything is tears with her this time. She wrapped her arms around him, it was clearly killing her that she is too pregnant to pick him up anymore.

She said, "Mama will sit on Santa's lap for your brother, don't worry." He sniffled a little and pouted, but the crisis seemed to have been averted. He didn't want to be let down though and cuddled into me until it was his turn. I peeled him off of me and he asked Santa for another toy fire truck. Consider it done. He has about twenty already, but one more can't hurt. His room has never caught fire and I credit his fleet of toy fire trucks. After that Sookie went and reluctantly sat awkwardly on "Santa's" lap and looked confused as to what should happen next.

Lucky for her Thor took the reins. "Santa, please bend over and listen to what my broter wants." 'Santa' bent down and rigidly put his ear to Sookie's stomach. She looked mortified and was practically drawing blood she was biting her lip so hard. I was laughing and snapping pictures with my phone.

I was happy. I love my growing family. I have good friends, a thriving business and a second chance at life. Now I thank any God that will listen everyday for giving me a second chance at life and I ask their forgiveness for being so ungrateful at first.


End file.
